| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
10 Dec 2007 : Column 97W—continued
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of police officers were (a) men, (b) women, (c) black and minority ethnic (BME) men and (d) BME women in each of the last 10 years. [170585]
Mr. McNulty: The requested data are published annually in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin series “Police Service Strength, England and Wales” which are available online and in the Library of the House.
The available data are given in the following table.
| Proportion( 1) of police officers by gender and ethnicity( 2) as at 31 March 1998 to 2007 | ||||
| Percentage | ||||
| Minority ethnic | ||||
| 31 March each year | Male | Female | Male | Female |
| (1) Based on full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between the totals and the sums of constituent items. (2) Minority ethnic officers only, does not include those officers whose ethnicity is listed as “not stated”. | ||||
Police: Racial Violence
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of religious hate crime against police officers were recorded in each police force area in each of the last five years. [172602]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not available centrally. The Home Office collects statistics on the number of recorded offences of racially or religiously aggravated offences but details regarding the victim are not collected.
Police: Vehicles
Mr. Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make an assessment of the use of upright electronic personal transporter vehicles by police forces in other countries. [171113]
Mr. McNulty: We have no current plans to do so.
Proscribed Organisations Appeals Commission
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will implement the findings of the Proscribed Organisations Appeals Commission and remove the proscription from the Peoples’ Mujahadeen Organisation of Iran. [172754]
Mr. McNulty: As we have already made clear, we are disappointed with the judgment handed down by the Proscribed Organisations Appeals Commission on 30 November, and will be appealing. No action will be taken to remove the Peoples’ Mujahadeen Organisation of Iran from the proscribed list in the interim.
Railways
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by her Department on first class train tickets in the last 12 months. [171258]
Mr. Byrne: The Department's accounting system does not separately identify expenditure on first class and standard class train travel. Such information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department expects all official travel to be carried out by the most efficient and economic means available, taking into account the cost of travel and subsistence, savings in official time, management benefit, and the needs of staff with disabilities. This is in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.
The Cabinet Office produces the annual list of Cabinet Ministers Overseas Travel, and the one for 2006-07 was published on 25 July 2007.
Terrorism
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government's policy is on the role of (a) Europol and (b) other EU institutions in the Bureau de Liaison network for EU-wide information-sharing on terrorist incidents. [170588]
Mr. McNulty:
Europol has a role to play in combating terrorism across the EU by providing support to the European law enforcement community through their research and analysis capability. By member states providing information to Europol on terrorist incidents, member states can assist that organisation to analyse and identify trends and
possible terrorist threats within the EU. It also enables Europol to provide alerts to the law enforcement agencies throughout Europe.
The provision of terrorist incident data to Europol by the law enforcement community also allows them through their analysis of all data they receive, to identify any association or connection between a terrorist suspect and other possible suspects based elsewhere in Europe. Again, Europol must advise national law enforcement of any cross-match identifications.
The Government remain clear that only UK counter-terrorism agencies have an operational and investigative remit but the UK's overall counter-terrorism capacity is strengthened by our close collaboration with international partners including Europol.
The Bureau de Liaison network is a stable and reliable means of exchange of information. All member states, as well as the General Secretariat, Commission and Europol are linked to the liaison office network.
Terrorism: Detainees
Mr. David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on periods of detention without charge in relation to counter-terrorism in other EU member states. [164009]
Mr. McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs published a document entitled “Counter-Terrorism Legislation and Practice: A Survey of Selected Countries” in October 2005. This can be found at:
We remain informed on the counter-terrorism legislative systems of other European Union countries.
Terrorism: Expenditure
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on combating terrorism in the UK in each of the last five years. [166492]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 20 November 2007]: Details of the Home Office's spending on counter-terrorism and intelligence in each of the last five years are set out in Chapter 5 of the 2007 Departmental Report, which can be found on the Home Office website at the following address:
Further information on total Government spending on counter-terrorism is not held by the Home Office.
Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many social workers are working at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre; how many days they spend a week at the centre; and if she will make a statement. [172634]
Mr. Byrne: There are two social workers, employed by Bedford county council, who work mainly at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre. They work core office hours from Monday to Friday, spending the majority of their time at the centre.
Young People
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff aged between 16 and 18 were employed by her Department (a) directly and (b) through an employment agency in each of the last 10 years; what proportion of these were given time off work to undertake some form of training; and what proportion were provided with some form of training (i) wholly and (ii) partially funded by her Department. [171271]
Mr. Byrne: We are unable to provide data before April 2004 without incurring a disproportionate cost. This is due to a change in the databases used to store and collect staff data in 2004; data before this period are held on the old system.
The following tables show the number of staff aged 16 to 18 that were recruited either directly or through an agency by the Home Office and the Border and Immigration Agency since 31 March 2005.
| 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005 | |||
| Number | |||
| Age 16 | Age 17 | Age 18 | |
| 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006 | |||
| Number | |||
| Age 16 | Age 17 | Age 18 | |
| 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2007 | |||
| Number | |||
| Age 16 | Age 17 | Age 18 | |
The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is unable to provide information on how many staff it employs aged between 16 and 18 years, directly or through recruitment agencies in each of the last 10 years as the personnel management system is inaccessible due to updating during the target period for this question and the records are not held manually.
The Criminal Records Bureau has been in existence only since 2002. Its records show that it has not employed anyone between the ages of 16 and 18.
In answer to the second part of the question regarding training it is not possible to supply data without incurring a disproportionate cost.
We do not routinely invest in training temporary staff beyond the basic need for the post for which they are recruited.
Duchy of Lancaster
Central Office of Information: Publications
Mr. Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the Cabinet Office first published the Central Office of Information’s White Book; when publication of the next edition is planned; and for what reasons the Trades Union Congress is listed in the current edition. [171385]
Edward Miliband: The White Book was first published in 1978. The next edition will be published in February 2008.
The White Book contains details of a wide range of information contacts in Government Departments and in many other bodies with which Government deals, including organisations such as the CBI, the BBC and Ofcom. The Trades Union Congress is included as a body that comes under this broad category and has been listed since 1994.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |