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21 Jan 2009 : Column 1491W—continued
Police: Horses
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward proposals to increase the number of mounted police in police forces in England and Wales. [248355]
Mr. Coaker: The number of mounted police in police forces in England and Wales is an operational matter for chief officers, balancing operational needs against the financial cost of maintaining a mounted unit.
Police: Medals
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will consider the merits of changing to 20 years the period of service of award for the Police Long Service Medal. [248428]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 20 January 2009] : The issue of reducing the qualifying period is the subject of an ongoing review and the Home Office will lead a consultation exercise.
Police: Rural Areas
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she taken to (a) facilitate policing in rural areas and (b) develop methods of assessing levels of public safety in rural communities. [248199]
Mr. Coaker: Following consultation we continue to pay the £30 million rural policing grant in the current CSR period (2008-09 to 2010-11) as part of special formula grant, rather than including it in general formula grant. This ensures that police authorities in more rural areas continue to benefit fully from the provision.
The Policing Pledge, which sets out for the public the service that they can expect to receive from the police anywhere in the country, includes a 20-minute response time for emergency calls from rural areas. Neighbourhood policing teams in rural areas have also been given specific guidance from the National Policing Improvement Agency in recognition that the policing needs in rural areas may differ from those in towns and cities.
Police: Standards
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 8 December 2008, Official Report, column 39WS, on strategic policing priorities, by what means (a) a police force, (b) its police authority, (c) crime and disorder reduction partnerships, community safety partnerships and other local partners and (d) local people are to be involved in setting local policing priorities for 2009-10. [243702]
Mr. Coaker: Every police authority is required each year to produce a three-year plan including their local priorities for policing their area. They are required to consider and include crime and disorder reduction partnerships/community safety partnerships strategies and the view of the public obtained under section 96 of the Police Act 1996. How each authority decides to gather and include this information is a decision for them.
Underpinning this, local—neighbourhood—policing priorities are agreed between the neighbourhood policing teams and their local communities. These priorities will be enshrined in the local part of the Policing Pledge and subject to discussion at the monthly public meetings that all teams now hold.
Police: Telephone Services
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces have decided to cease using 0800 non-emergency telephone numbers. [248915]
Mr. Coaker: This information is not held centrally.
Proceeds of Crime
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 14 October 2008, Official Report, column 1079W, on the proceeds of crime, how much was received by each police force under the asset recovery incentive scheme in the last year for which figures are available. [241885]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is set out in the following table.
| Allocations under the asset recovery incentive scheme for the period 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2008 | |
| £ | |
| Police Force | |
Proceeds of Crime: Consolidated Fund
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been paid into the Consolidated Fund from proceeds of crime in each of the last five years. [249166]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 19 January 2009]: The total net value of criminal proceeds recovered in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the last five years is set out in the following table. From 1 April 2006 the Home Office has paid back 50 per cent. of recovered criminal assets to the police and other front-line agencies under the asset recovery incentive scheme. The scheme is designed to reward past performance and drive up future asset recovery activity. The remaining 50 per cent. contributes to core Home Office expenditure priorities, including policing and other asset recovery measures.
| Proceeds of crime | |
| £ million | |
| Net total recovered | |
Prostitution
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of people selling sex in each of the last five years. [248035]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office consultation Paying the Price: a consultation paper on prostitution, published in July 2004 stated that:
“it has been estimated that there could be as many as 80,000 people involved in prostitution in the UK.”
Security: Olympic Games 2012
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to publish the costed security plan for the London 2012 Olympics. [249800]
Mr. Coaker: Due to security considerations, the costed security plan for the London 2012 Olympics is necessarily a classified document. As such, the Home Office is considering proposals for publishing an unclassified version later in 2009.
Serious and Organised Crime Agency: Airwave Service
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Airwave handsets issued to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency have been lost in each year since their introduction; and how many handsets issued to the Agency have been disabled by the service provider through (a) loss, (b) breakage and (c) other reasons in each such year. [246190]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The number of Airwave handsets lost since their introduction in 2007 are as follows:
2007: 3
2008: 4
No handsets issued to SOCA have been disabled by the service provider.
These handsets have all been permanently disabled by SOCA in accordance with national standards.
Shoplifting
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recorded shoplifting offences there were in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008. [249615]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The available information shows that there were 294,282 recorded shoplifting offences in England and Wales in 2006-07 and 290,625 offences recorded in 2007-08, a fall of 1 per cent.
Surveillance: Members
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Wellingborough of 30 April 2008, Official Report, columns 506-07W, on surveillance: Members, if she will place in the Library a copy of the updated Code of Practice. [250539]
Mr. Coaker: Yes. The Government will shortly be consulting on the proposed amendments to the Code of Practice and will place a copy of the consultation document, when this is published, in the Library. The revised code will then be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure before coming into force.
Theft
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many recorded offences of handling stolen goods there were in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008. [249614]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The available information shows that there were 11,826 recorded offences of handling stolen goods in England and Wales in 2006-07 and 11,227 offences recorded in 2007-08, a fall of 5 per cent.
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