You are here: Parliament home page > Parliamentary business > Publications and Records > Hansard > Commons Debates > Daily Hansard - Written Answers
Previous Section Index Home Page

22 May 2008 : Column 470W—continued


Police: Recruitment

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men and (b) women were recruited by Essex Police in each year since 1997, broken down by age. [201952]

Mr. McNulty: The requested data on age breakdowns are not collected centrally. The available data have been collected since 2002-03 and are given in the following table.

Police officer female and male Recruits( 1) to Essex police from 2002-03 to 2006-07( 2) (FTE)( 3)
Female recruit Male recruit

2002-03(4)

10

30

2003-04

83

142

2004-05

84

192

2005-06

76

148

2006-07

121

185

(1 )Recruits included those officers joining as police standard direct recruits and those who were previously special constables. This excludes police officers on transfers from other forces and those rejoining.
(2 )Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March inclusive. Comparable data are not available prior to 2002-03.
(3) Full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between total and the sums of the constituent items.
(4 )Excludes quarters 1, 2, and 3 data not available.

Police: Uniforms

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) stab-proof and (b) gun-proof vests are available per (i) police officer and (ii) full-time equivalent police officer in each police force area. [204931]

Mr. McNulty: Decisions about the selection, purchase and issue of body armour are matters for individual chief officers of police.

Police: Weapons

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is issued to police forces on the procedures and protocols to be followed by police officers in the use of incapacitant spray; and what codes of practice are in force. [204631]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 9 May 2008]: The Association of Chief Police Officers issued guidance on the use of incapacitant spray in September 2006 providing police officers and other police staff with an overarching, generic approach to the use of incapacitant spray to underpin the specific training provided to all staff issued with incapacitant spray. The code of practice for police use of firearms and less lethal weapons issued in 2003 applies to incapacitant sprays as any other less lethal weapon.

The Home Office Scientific Development Branch also issues a technical standard for CS and PAVA sprays for operational police use to ensure incapacitant sprays supplied to the police are manufactured to a consistent standard and are designed to meet operational requirements. The standard was last updated in 2005 and will be updated again in 2008.


22 May 2008 : Column 471W

Proscribed Organisations

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward legislation to outlaw Hizbullah in the United Kingdom; what recent representations she has received on the issue; and if she will make a statement. [201955]

Mr. McNulty: The Hezbollah External Security Organisation was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in February 2001.

The consequence of proscription is that specific criminal offences apply in relation to the Hezbollah External Security Organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000. These include membership of the organisation, support for the organisation and wearing clothes or displaying articles arousing reasonable suspicion as to membership of the organisation. Further general criminal offences exist under the Terrorism Act 2000 in relation to fundraising and various uses of money or property for the purposes of terrorism.

Prostitution

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) arrested and (b) successfully prosecuted for (i) kerb-crawling
22 May 2008 : Column 472W
and (ii) running a brothel in each police authority area in each of the last 10 years. [203796]

Mr. Coaker: The information requested regarding arrests is not collected centrally. The arrests collection undertaken by the Ministry of Justice provides data on persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, by age group, gender, ethnicity, and main offence group, i.e. robbery, burglary, sexual offences etc. From data reported centrally we are not able to identify the specific offences from within the main sexual offences group.

The information regarding successful prosecutions for the offences of ‘kerb crawling' and ‘brothel keeping' is provided in the table. The figures for brothel keeping encompass the full range of related offences. There are eight such offences, including: ‘keeping a brothel'; ‘letting premises for use as a brothel'; and ‘tenant permitting premises to be used for prostitution'.

The figures provided relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.


22 May 2008 : Column 473W

22 May 2008 : Column 474W
Number of persons found guilty at all courts for 'brothel keeping' and 'kerb crawling' offences, by police force area, England and Wales 1997-2006( 1, 2)
Police force area 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Brothel Keeping

107

Avon and Somerset

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Cheshire

—

2

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

City of London

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Cleveland

—

—

3

—

—

—

—

2

—

—

Devon and Cornwall

—

—

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

1

Dorset

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

3

3

Essex

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

5

—

Gloucestershire

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

1

1

Greater Manchester

1

1

3

—

—

—

—

—

1

Hampshire

1

—

4

1

3

2

3

2

1

Hertfordshire

—

—

—

—

1

—

1

—

—

Humberside

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Lancashire

1

—

1

—

—

—

—

1

1

—

Leicestershire

—

—

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

1

Merseyside

4

1

4

2

—

—

1

—

1

—

Metropolitan Police

9

2

3

2

—

—

—

2

2

4

North Yorkshire

—

—

—

1

1

—

—

—

—

Northamptonshire

—

—

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Northumbria

—

—

—

2

—

—

—

—

—

—

Nottinghamshire

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

1

South Yorkshire

1

—

—

3

—

—

—

—

—

—

Staffordshire

2

—

—

—

—

1

—

—

—

—

Surrey

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

1

Thames Valley

—

—

—

1

1

—

—

—

—

—

West Mercia

1

—

—

1

2

—

—

—

—

West Midlands

2

3

2

1

—

2

—

1

—

—

West Yorkshire

1

1

3

—

1

1

1

—

—

4

Wiltshire

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

1

Dyfed—Powys

—

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Gwent

—

1

2

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

North Wales

—

1

5

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

South Wales

1

—

—

—

1

1

—

—

—

—

England and Wales

26

13

33

14

7

8

4

15

11

18

Kerb Crawling

165

Avon and Somerset

20

2

1

—

1

9

2

2

1

7

Bedfordshire

1

1

1

1

6

2

5

—

1

1

Cambridgeshire

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

City of London

—

—

—

—

—

7

1

—

—

—

Cleveland

10

46

109

214

154

137

152

202

109

62

Derbyshire

1

—

—

6

32

29

16

8

16

6

Devon and Cornwall

1

—

—

—

3

—

—

—

—

—

Dorset

17

9

4

8

10

4

4

—

—

13

Essex

27

16

10

30

10

3

1

—

1

—

Greater Manchester

86

54

12

61

35

22

19

22

8

8

Hampshire

9

3

10

15

10

12

8

6

7

8

Humberside

1

—

1

—

—

1

—

—

—

—

Kent

—

—

2

1

6

5

—

3

—

5

Lancashire

1

2

—

1

—

9

5

4

2

—

Leicestershire

8

10

2

—

4

16

1

1

—

—

Merseyside

7

2

—

2

34

1

—

—

5

7

Metropolitan Police

303

311

301

264

294

348

339

377

288

259

Norfolk

68

37

17

6

2

—

2

—

—

1

Northamptonshire

—

—

—

—

12

8

28

29

42

45

Nottinghamshire

56

65

45

25

46

17

6

8

16

12

South Yorkshire

9

2

1

4

31

39

45

7

8

2

Staffordshire

17

4

1

—

10

29

14

15

14

2

Suffolk

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

1

5

1

Thames Valley

—

—

—

—

—

1

3

6

—

—

Warwickshire

—

1

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

West Mercia

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

1

—

—

West Midlands

104

93

44

42

49

72

67

39

66

52

West Yorkshire

60

35

36

19

26

116

113

26

45

41

Wiltshire

2

3

1

—

—

1

2

3

—

—

South Wales

4

4

1

1

—

3

1

—

1

—

England and Wales

813

700

599

700

775

891

834

760

635

532

(1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Note: Where a police force area does not appear in the table there have been no convictions within that area for kerb crawling or brothel keeping. Source: Court proceedings database—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of justice.
Next Section Index Home Page