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15 Oct 2008 : Column 1262W—continued
Members: Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer the letter of 12 June 2008 to her from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Florence Gachvgi. [222584]
Jacqui Smith: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 29 July 2008.
Police Arbitration Tribunal
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy to (a) implement the decisions of the Police Arbitration Tribunal and (b) backdate that implementation. [225117]
Mr. Coaker: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will consider any recommendation of the Police Arbitration Tribunal very carefully. In doing so she will take account of the tribunal's findings and reasoning, and relevant factors including affordability and Government policy on public sector pay, including the maintenance of low inflation.
Police Custody: Death
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average cost of investigating the death by non-natural causes of a prisoner held in police custody was in the latest period for which figures are available. [224739]
Mr. Coaker: This information is not held centrally.
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are taken to investigate the death from non-natural causes of a prisoner held in police custody. [224746]
Mr. Coaker: Under the Police Reform Act 2002, deaths in custody constitute a mandatory referral to the IPCC. The IPCC assesses each referral in line with its obligations, including under article 2 of the Human Rights Act, considers the circumstances of the case referred and decides the appropriate mode of investigation.
An IPCC Commissioner has oversight of the investigation and agrees its recommendation.
Police: Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers (a) below superintendent rank and (b) of superintendent rank and above have been suspended by Lancashire Constabulary. [224646]
Mr. Coaker: As at the end of March 2008, six officers below the rank of superintendent were suspended. There were no officers of superintendent and above suspended.
Police: Pay
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has for the implementation of the outcomes of the police pay and conditions arbitration process; and if she will make a statement. [225267]
Mr. Coaker: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will consider any recommendation of the Police Arbitration Tribunal very carefully. In doing so she will take account of the tribunal's findings and reasoning, and relevant factors including affordability and Government policy on public sector pay, including the maintenance of low inflation.
Police: Procurement
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the marginal costs of duplicate procurement cycles in police forces in England and Wales. [225407]
Mr. Coaker: The “Efficiency and Productivity Strategy for the Police Service 2008-11” makes clear that savings can be made by the police service through increased collaborative procurement, including the use of national and regional contracts for, or open to the police service. The recent Green Paper “From The Neighbourhood to the National: Policing our Communities Together” makes clear that increasingly the Government expect police authorities and chief constables to consider whether procurement decisions should be made locally (collaborating with local partners), regionally or nationally, depending on the nature of the market.
We welcome the work that police forces are doing to implement the procurement strategy for the years to 2011 agreed earlier this year by the Association of Chief Police Officers. That strategy recognises that delivering more efficient procurement depends upon forces, along with local and national partners, aligning plans and reducing duplication.
Police: Resignations
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers retired due to ill health or long-term illness between the ages of (a) 21 to 30, (b) 31 to 40, (c) 41 to 50 and (d) 51 to 60 years in the last five years. [225902]
Mr. Coaker: The age of those leaving the service due to medical retirements is not collected centrally.
The number of police officer medical retirements have been published each year by Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary (HMIC) in their annual report. HMIC have advised that these data will no longer be published in their annual report and that the data for 2004-05 would be the last series of data to be published.
The available data are given in the following table.
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