Anne Main:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment she has made of the effect of increases in the cost of fuel on police services in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) England and Wales; and if she will make a statement; [217236]
(2) what recent representations she has received on the effect of increases in the cost of fuel on the police service; and if she will make a statement. [217237]
Mr. McNulty:
We have received no such representations.
This is an operational matter for each police authority and chief constable.
22 July 2008 : Column 1365W
Police: Internet
Mr. Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on the website www.police.uk in each month since its inception; what the budget for the website is for 2008-09; how many staff are employed to maintain the website; and how many unique visitors there were to the website in each month since its inception. [200378]
Mr. McNulty:
The website www.police.uk/ (also known as the ‘Police Portal’) provided a national communications channel for the police service. The total annual cost of running this service was just under £2 million per annum. Most of the costs associated with running the portal were charged on an annual basis and there was little variation from month to month.
There is no budget for the website in 2008-09 and no staff are currently employed to maintain this website. This is because the Police Portal service ceased on 31 March 2007 when the contract with the service provider then providing the operational service came to an end.
The numbers of unique visitors per month can only be estimated. However, on the basis of the IP addresses used it is estimated that in the period from 1 January 2006 until the portal's cessation on 31 March 2007 the numbers of unique visitors were as follows:
Number
January 2006
52,516
February 2006
46,338
March 2006
50,084
April 2006
47,775
May 2006
49,935
June 2006
47,051
July 2006
45,063
August 2006
76,386
September 2006
68,880
22 July 2008 : Column 1366W
October 2006
57,802
November 2006
57,259
December 2006
75,101
January 2007
92,424
February 2007
84,294
March 2007
84,851
Police: North Yorkshire
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the level of provision of policing in the sparsely populated countryside of north Yorkshire; and if she will make a statement. [220018]
Mr. McNulty:
The provision of policing across the force area is a matter for the chief officer and the police authority.
Police: Pay
Mr. Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) the total and (b) the average overtime payments for police officers were in each police force in England and Wales for each year since 1997. [219106]
Mr. McNulty:
Data on police overtime is produced by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. Police officer overtime for 1997-98 to 2006-07, broken down by police force areas, is shown in table A as follows. The average overtime payment can be calculated by dividing the overtime payment by the official number of police officers for that year (using Home Office figures) and is shown in table B as follows.
Table A: Total Police Officer overtime expenditure by force, 1997-98 to 2006-07
