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19 Jan 2009 : Column 1235W—continued
The Government funded £29 million to implement the recommendations of the Fraud Review, which included the creation of a National Fraud Strategic Authority
(NFSA) launched on 1 October 2008. We are currently working with the NFSA on ways of assessing the effectiveness of our awareness raising activity.
Police: Conferences
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many multi-agency risk assessment conferences were held in each police authority in England and Wales in the last 12 months; which agencies took part in each conference; and what the cost of such conferences was to (a) police forces and (b) other public bodies in that period. [247665]
Mr. Coaker: The Home Office does not collect this information. Some of the information is available from the Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse (CAADA).
Police: Convictions
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many serving police officers in (a) Hertfordshire, (b) City of London, (c) Metropolitan, (d) Merseyside and (e) Greater Manchester Police had previous convictions before joining the Police Service in each year since 2000; and how many have been convicted since joining the Police Service in each year. [248000]
Mr. Coaker: This information is not held centrally.
Police: Dogs
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what operating protocols apply to UK Border Agency staff in circumstances where a (a) man and (b) woman belonging to a faith which considers dogs be unclean refuses to be the subject of a search using a dog when entering the UK. [247770]
Mr. Woolas: In instances where any traveller refuses to be screened by a dog, the handler will refer the individual, or group of individuals, to a member of UKBA staff, who may question or examine that traveller further. We do not insist on a traveller being screened by a detector dog.
Police: Medals
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward proposals to award long service medals to police officers after 20 years of service; and if she will make a statement. [248490]
Mr. Coaker: The issue of reducing the qualifying period is the subject of an ongoing review and the Home Office will lead a consultation exercise.
Police: Road Traffic Control
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dedicated traffic police are deployed on the motorway and trunk road network in England; and what the equivalent figure was for (a) 2006 and (b) 2007. [248852]
Mr. Coaker: Information on the number of dedicated traffic police officers is not collected centrally. The available data are the numbers of full-time equivalent police officers primarily employed in the function traffic. On 31 March 2006 there were 6,498, on 31 March 2007, 6,412 and on 31 March 2008, 6,299. The traffic function includes staff who are predominantly employed on motorcycles or in patrol vehicles for the policing of traffic and motorway related duties. The definition does not include officers employed in accident investigation, vehicle examination and radar duties.
The deployment of officers to specific areas is a matter for individual chief officers.
Police: Crime and Policing Representatives
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the future annual cost of providing allowances to directly elected crime and policing representatives as proposed in the Policing Green Paper. [244187]
Mr. Coaker: The Government have announced that they do not intend to proceed with their proposals for directly elected crime and policing representatives at this time.
Police: Vetting
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what vetting takes place to ensure that persons with previous convictions are not employed by the police force; and if she will make a statement. [247739]
Mr. Coaker: The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) is responsible for vetting policy. Forces should not recruit people with cautions and convictions which may call into question the integrity of the applicant or the Police Service.
Prior to recruitment, thorough checks are made to ascertain if anything is known to the detriment of the applicant, spouse, partner, close relatives or other associates which could heighten vulnerability or cause embarrassment to the Police Service.
Checks are conducted through the Police National Computer, Criminal History System, Criminal Information System, counter terrorism databases and local intelligence, as well as military and police Professional Standards databases where necessary.
Responsibility for recruitment is a matter for individual Chief Police Officers, and it is for each police force to make a decision on an individual basis against the national guidance.
Proceeds of Crime: Terrorism
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been collected relating to the suspected financing of terrorism through the suspicious activity reports regime since its creation. [247623]
Mr. Coaker
[holding answer 14 January 2009]: Statistics on the amount of money seized as a result of information received through Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) on the suspected financing of terrorism have been collected by the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit
(NTFIU) of the Metropolitan Police since September 2006. Since that date, £1,769,955 has been seized by the NTFIU for further investigation into the origins of the money and the intentions of the transacting parties as a result of SARs of suspected terrorist financing having been passed onto them from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). It would not be appropriate to provide further details of the transactions or a breakdown of this figure due to the need to protect ongoing investigations.
Prostitution
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had on policy on prostitution. [247694]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office recently conducted a comprehensive review into tackling the demand for prostitution, the findings of which were published on 19 November. This involved discussions with a range of organisations and individuals, including other Government Departments, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service as well as organisations supporting individuals involved in prostitution.
Serious Organised Crime Agency
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the estimated value of assets in cases adopted for civil recovery or tax action from other law enforcement agencies by the Serious Organised Crime Agency was in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the UK in the first six months of this financial year. [243621]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Serious Organised Crime Agency estimates the potential value of assets when adopting a case for civil recovery, but does not collate these data as a performance indicator. It would be time consuming to collate these data manually from case files and this would be of no operational value. The first stage in a case at which SOCA reports on the estimated value of assets is when they are frozen or under restraint. Information on frozen and restrained assets will be published in SOCA's annual report.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many cases were referred to the Serious Organised Crime Agency by other law enforcement agencies for civil recovery or taxation investigation in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the UK in the first six months of 2008-09; [243782]
(2) what the value of assets restrained in cases which the Serious Organised Crime Agency has adopted in the first six months of 2008-09 in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the UK; [243627]
(3) in how many cases adopted by the Serious Organised Crime Agency action has been taken to restrain assets in (a) the UK and (b) Northern Ireland, in the first six months of 2008-09. [244063]
Mr. Alan Campbell:
Figures relating to the Serious Organised Crime Agency’s UK-wide asset recovery performance for the financial year 2008-09 are subject to internal validation and will be included in their annual report for 2008-09, when published.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases have been referred to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) by law enforcement agencies in England and Wales for criminal confiscation investigation in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) nationwide in the first six months of 2008-09; in how many of those cases SOCA has agreed to adoption for such investigation and action; what the estimated value of the assets in the cases adopted for civil recovery or tax action from other law enforcement agencies is; in how many such cases action has already been taken to restrain assets; and what the value of assets restrained in such cases is. [243849]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Under the provisions of the Serious Crime Act 2007, the Serious Organised Crime Agency was not given the remit or powers to assist partner agencies with criminal confiscation cases in the same way as the Assets Recovery Agency. As a consequence SOCA is not in a position to support partner agencies by taking criminal case referrals in the same way that ARA did. SOCA considers requests from partners for advice or investigative assistance in criminal confiscation cases on a case-by-case basis, but there is no referral or adoption process.
ARA's criminal confiscation cases were transferred to SOCA with the merger. SOCA has retained ARA's full powers in relation to these specific cases, up until the point of the completion. SOCA does not however have ARA's full powers in relation to criminal confiscation cases for SOCA-initiated cases.
Speed Limits: Enforcement
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance her Department provides to police forces on enforcement of 20 miles per hour zones. [247670]
Mr. Coaker: The enforcement of any speed limit is an operational matter for the police, and the Department has not issued guidance in this area. We would however expect 20 mph zones to be largely self-enforcing through traffic calming measures.
The decision to introduce a 20 mph zone and the installation of traffic calming measures are matters for individual local authorities. The Department for Transport issues guidance to local authorities on the factors to take into account in reaching such decisions, including the need to consult with the police and other interested parties.
UK Border Agency: Complaints
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints were investigated by the Complaints Audit Committee of the UK Border Agency and its predecessor in each of the last three years. [241858]
Jacqui Smith: The Complaints Audit Committee (CAC) did not investigate individual complaints. The Committee’s remit was to monitor the effectiveness of the UK Border Agency’s procedures for investigating serious complaints about the conduct and efficiency of its staff and to comment on quality of service issues.
UK Border Agency: Correspondence
Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects the UK Border Agency to reply to the letter of 9 December 2008 from the hon. Member for Walsall North, reference 1032165 and CTS 822098/8. [248179]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 15 January 2009]: The UK Border Agency wrote to the hon. Member on 12 January 2009.
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