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29 Apr 2008 : Column 343W—continued
queuing levels are continually monitored and managed and are reported regularly to senior officials;
flexible response teams are deployed to port operations during peak periods as was the case last summer; and
we continue to expand and develop new technologies that might add further relief to queue length and enrolment on IRIS now exceeds 190,000 passengers with over one million crossings through the gates to date.
The level of staff engaged in frontline Border Force activity is at an all time high and we are committed to facilitating the passage of legitimate travellers and goods, without delay at all ports.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to answer the letter of 26 February 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Naima Alam Manzura. [199879]
Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 8 April 2008.
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to answer the letter of 24 January 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Mr. S. Kadha Hassan Ahmad. [199881]
Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 16 April 2008.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, dated 19 March 2008, on the proposed abolition of the ancestry visa (reference: M4545/8). [202164]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 28 April 2008]: I replied to the hon. Member for West Worcestershire on 25 April 2008.
Missing Persons: Databases
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces are using computerised data systems for management and recording of missing persons reports. [202229]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 28 April 2008]: All police forces in England and Wales use some form of computer system for the management and recording of missing persons reports. The details of the systems that each police force has in place are given in the following table. This information was obtained from the October 2007 Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary “Inspection Reports on Protecting Vulnerable People—Missing Persons”, in combination with research carried out by the Missing Persons Bureau (MPB).
A total of 20 police forces use WPC Software’s Community Policing and Case Tracking (COMPACT) computer system to record and manage their missing persons’ cases. Electronic data transfer between ‘COMPACT’ forces and the MPB’s ‘Hermes’ system is being arranged.
Automatic data transfer mechanisms for the other systems are being investigated.
At a national level, the MPB use Hermes, which is a purpose-built electronic database, developed and implemented by the Missing People charity through the Invest to Save Initiative in 2004-05. The shared technology between the MPB and the charity facilitates effective transfer of data between the two organisations and collaborative efforts on research and analysis projects.
All police forces and the MPB also have access to the Police National Computer (PNC). The national Guidance on the Management, Recording and Investigation of Missing Persons indicates that officers should record details of all missing persons reported to them on the PNC within 48 hours.
Missing Persons: Young People
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people under the age of 18 years were reported missing to the police in each police force area in the latest period for which figures are available. [202225]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 28 April 2008]: Figures for the number of children and young people who are reported missing from home are not collected centrally and this is a matter for individual police forces.
Motorcycles: Training
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the police record the occasions on which they request evidence that a rider of a motorcycle with an engine capacity under 50cc has undertaken compulsory basic training. [200916]
Mr. McNulty: This is an operational matter for the police.
Police Interrogation: Speech Impaired
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what instructions are issued on the procedure and protocol which a police officer must follow in (a) questioning and (b) physically taking hold of a person with a speech impediment observed to be under the influence of neither drugs nor alcohol, when the officer cannot understand what the suspect is saying. [201355]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 24 April 2008]: The Code of Practice for the detention, treatment and questioning of persons by police officers (Code C) issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984, provides that if a person appears to be blind, seriously visually impaired, deaf, unable to read or speak or has difficulty orally because of a speech impediment they shall be treated as such while in police detention. A person with speech difficulties must not be interviewed in the absence of an interpreter unless they agree in writing to being interviewed without one. Where there is doubt about the speaking ability of a parent or guardian attending as an appropriate adult, an interpreter should also be called unless they agree in writing to the interview being proceeding without one.
Police Stations
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 3 April 2008, Official Report, column 1320W, on police stations, how many (a) police kiosks, (b) mobile police stations, (c) police shops in high streets and (d) other public access methods are operated by the police in England and Wales, broken down by police authority. [201342]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 24 April 2008]: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The management of the police estate and allocation of resources are matters for each police authority and the Chief Officer, who are responsible for assessing local needs.
Police: Accidents
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many accidents involving police (a) pursuit and (b) patrol cars and drivers and members of the public resulting in serious injuries or death there were in each of the last five years; [198455]
(2) how many police vehicles were involved in road accidents resulting in (a) slight injuries, (b) serious injuries and (c) fatalities in the last five years; [198456]
(3) how many and what percentage of police vehicles involved in accidents while responding to an emergency
or otherwise in pursuit were (a) motorway patrol vehicles, (b) armed response vehicles and (c) other police vehicles in each year since 1995. [198457]
Mr. McNulty: The data provided here are a supplementary series collected on behalf and released with the approval of Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary (HMIC). These data are normally used for inspection purposes only.
The centrally collected data on road traffic collisions are as follows:
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