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21 July 2008 : Column 968W—continued
Police: Manpower
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in England and Wales were in post on the latest date for which figures are available, broken down by rank; and how many in each rank were (a) Black and (b) Asian. [219115]
Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 10 December 2007, Official Report, column 94W.
Police: Resignations
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of police officers left the police service (a) within two to five years, (b) within five to 10 years and (c) after more than 10 years of joining in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area. [219108]
Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 25 January 2008, Official Report, columns 2254-2268W.
Police: Sight Impaired
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Metropolitan Police officers trained in firearms handling have been taken off front line duty due to vision problems or impairments in the last three years. [218440]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police recruit applications have been turned down due to vision problems or impairments in the last three years. [218441]
Mr. McNulty: In the last three years to 31 March 2007, a total of 26 individuals have been rejected after having their eyesight tested at the medical assessment stage.
This represents a total of 0.1 per cent. of the total number of applicants during the same period.
These data are based on provisional information which has not been verified with individual police forces.
Police: Stun Guns
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions Taser stun guns have been (a) drawn, (b) arced as a demonstration warning, (c) applied in a drive stun and (d) fired by each police force since 2003. [219105]
Mr. McNulty: The latest figures on the use of Taser by each police force in England and Wales, published by the Home Office on 12 May 2008, can be found on the Home Office website at:
Police: Voluntary Work
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she has taken to support volunteers who work for the police, with particular reference to staffing police stations. [219109]
Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 14 January 2008, Official Report, column 1070W.
Political Parties: Conferences
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the costs were of policing the annual party political conferences in each of the last three years; and from what budget these costs were met. [219114]
Mr. McNulty: Costs of policing annual party conferences fall to the relevant police authority. The Home Office has provided additional grant to the authorities responsible for policing the annual conference of the two main parties. The amount of additional grant paid in the last three years is set out in the following table:
| National autumn conferences | Force | Amount of Government special grant (£ million) |
Powers of Entry
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the timetable is for the review of state powers of entry into private property; [218210]
(2) what the timetable is for the review of powers of entry to publish its (a) options paper and (b) consultation paper; [218279]
(3) whether the review of powers of entry has completed its first phase on determining all existing powers of entry; [218280]
(4) how many separate proposals for new powers of entry have been referred to her Department in the last 36 months following her Department’s guidance on powers of entry; [218281]
(5) who the members are of the review of state powers of entry into private property; [218301]
(6) what representations the review of state powers of entry into private property has received from (a) members of the public and outside organisations and (b) public bodies, Government departments or quangos. [218302]
Mr. McNulty: The Powers of Entry Review is being carried out by the Home Office in conjunction with other relevant Government Departments and agencies who exercise statutory investigative or enforcement powers. Progress on the review is set out on the Home Office website at:
The webpage contains tables listing the powers of entry and entry, search, seizure or inspection identified to date and by whom and when those powers can be exercised. The review is now entering stage 2 and working with investigative and enforcement agencies on (a) assessing the continuing need for the powers and (b) raising public awareness and understanding of their rights and expectations. On completion of this work, the Government will launch a public consultation exercise on the findings of the review and next steps. The public consultation exercise is expected to commence in the autumn 2008. We will consider any parliamentary process in the light of the outcome of the public consultation.
A record is not currently held centrally on proposals submitted by other Departments for new or amending powers of entry.
Rape
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police forces are equipped with readily available test kits to secure samples in the event of a complaint of drug rape. [219100]
Mr. McNulty: Since 2007, all police forces in England and Wales have had access to early evidence kits. ACPO guidance "Investigating Serious Sexual Offences", published in 2005, states that they should be readily available. These kits are intended to ensure the effective recovery of non-intimate forensic samples, including urine samples where drug or alcohol analysis is required.
Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment she has made of the effect on (a) the Scottish fruit industry and (b) seasonal agricultural workers of changes to the seasonal agricultural workers scheme; [218208]
(2) what representations her Department has received from the Scotland Office on changes to the seasonal agricultural workers scheme. [218209]
Mr. Byrne:
I have received representations from the Scottish branch of the National Farmers Union and there are ongoing discussions between the Home Office and stakeholders on this issue. I am aware that some employers are reporting difficulties attracting migrants from the 2004 EU accession countries and we will
continue to monitor the situation. However, it remains the Government’s policy that labour needs skills at lower skill levels can be met from an expanded EU labour force. It is consistent with the principle of Community preference that the SAWS remains open only to nationals of Bulgaria and Romania while restrictions on nationals of those countries’ access to the labour market remain in force.
Surveillance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of complaints the Investigatory Powers Tribunal has upheld since it was created. [218293]
Mr. McNulty: From 2 October 2000 to 31 December 2006—the most recent date for which figures have been published—the Investigatory Powers Tribunal issued determinations in respect of 554 complaints. During that period it has only upheld a complaint once. This related to two complainants who lodged a joint complaint. The details were reported in the Interception of Communications Commissioner's report of 2005, a copy of which has been placed in the House Library.
Surveillance: Local Authorities
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on the use of surveillance and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. [218282]
Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave him on 22 May 2008, Official Report, column 477W.
Terrorism
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will place in the Library a copy of the heat map produced by her Department's Office for Security and counter-terrorism showing the 30 areas deemed most prone to Islamist extremism. [218287]
Mr. McNulty: The Government are working with local partners to ensure that information relevant to planning future work on preventing violent extremism is shared. For national security reasons it is not possible to place all of this information in the public domain.
Westminster City Council
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what projects undertaken by Westminster city council have received grant-aid funding from her Department since 1999. [217098]
Mr. Byrne: The Department's grant-related payments to Westminster city council are set out in the following table.
| £ | ||||
| Project | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
Information relating to payments made between the years 1999-2000 and 200304 could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
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