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13 May 2009 : Column 800W—continued

Fossil Fuels

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the First Minister on the development of small and technically-challenging oil and gas fields in Wales. [274379]

Mr. Paul Murphy: I have regular discussions with the First Minister on a range of issues including energy matters in Wales.

I understand that no proposals for development of any oil or gas field in Wales have to date been submitted for license with the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

Industrial Health and Safety

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much his Department spent on compliance with requirements of health and safety at work legislation in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [274533]

Mr. Paul Murphy: The Wales Office has health and safety compliance audits conducted annually by the Ministry of Justice and separately by the trade unions at no cost to my Department. The cost of health and safety works is not recorded separately and can be calculated only at disproportionate cost.

13 May 2009 : Column 801W

Tourism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Assembly Government on policy to encourage tourism to Wales. [274269]

Mr. Paul Murphy: I have regular discussions with the Welsh Assembly Government on a range of issues including tourism.

The Welsh Assembly Government is investing £2.2 million in UK-wide campaign to promote Wales as a top quality tourist destination. Earlier this month £19 million was secured to develop Heritage Tourism in Wales. The project, largely funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and EU Convergence Funds will maximise the economic value of heritage through increasing the volume, length and value of visits to Wales. The project will also ensure that Wales' outstanding heritage is more accessible and enjoyable to visit—both for visitors and people who live in Wales.

Latest available data show that for 2008 (January to December), Wales' market share of all staying trips in UK by UK residents was 7.2 per cent. (UK Tourism Survey).

Home Department

Homicide: Children

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children under the age of 10 years were murdered in each police force area in 2007-08. [274073]

Mr. Coaker: Available information is given in the following table.

13 May 2009 : Column 802W

Homicides currently recorded( 1) where victim aged under 10 years, by police force area: England and Wales, 2007-08( 2)
Police force area	Number of victims
Avon and Somerset	2
Bedfordshire	0
British Transport Police	0
Cambridgeshire	0
Cheshire	1
Cleveland	0
Cumbria	0
Derbyshire	1
Devon and Cornwall	5
Dorset	0
Durham	0
Dyfed Powys	0
Essex	0
Gloucestershire	0
Greater Manchester	1
Gwent	0
Hampshire	1
Hertfordshire	0
Humberside	2
Kent	0
Lancashire	1
Leicestershire	4
Lincolnshire	0
London, City of	0
Merseyside	1
Metropolitan Police	10
Norfolk	1
North Wales	2
North Yorkshire	1
Northamptonshire	1
Northumbria	0
Nottinghamshire	0
South Wales	0
South Yorkshire	4
Staffordshire	0
Suffolk	2
Surrey	3
Sussex	1
Thames Valley	1
Warwickshire	0
West Mercia	0
West Midlands	3
West Yorkshire	3
Wiltshire	0
Total	51
(1) As at 4 November 2008; figures are revised as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. (2) Offences are shown according to the year in which the police initially recorded the offence as homicide. This is not necessarily the year in which the incident took place or the year in which any court decision was made.

Ketamine: Theft

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many thefts of ketamine have been recorded from (a) veterinary premises and (b) hospitals in each of the last five years. [274988]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested is not collected centrally. In the Home Office police recorded crime statistics, thefts of ketamine would be recorded under the ‘Other theft’ offence classification and cannot be separately identified from other thefts recorded within that category.

Metals: Theft

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will discuss with the British Metal Recycling Association its proposals for restricting the activities of illegal scrap operators. [273660]

Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 8 May 2009]: The Association of Chief Police Officers organises a Conductive Metals Working Group which meets every two months. The working group consists of a wide range of representatives from police, industry and Government, including officials from the Home Office and BERR and members from the British Metal Recycling Association. The working group discusses the most effective ways of working in partnership to tackle metal theft. This includes measures to restrict the activities of illegal scrap operators through police activity with help from the industry. Potential legislation that would aim to further restrict the activities of illegal scrap operators is also discussed in this forum.

13 May 2009 : Column 803W

Police: Complaints

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of procedures in place for the investigation of alleged misconduct by the police; what recent representations she has received on this issue; and if she will make a statement. [273872]

Mr. Coaker: The Home Office took part in the stocktake of the police complaints system last year led by the Independent Police Complaints Commission to assess how well the current system is operating and how it could be further improved in the light of experience of its operation since April 2004. The IPCC worked very closely with its stakeholders in identifying areas for potential change and also carried out a public confidence survey to hear what the wider public think and expect from the police complaints system. The process resulted in 10 proposals for change, which centred on the following themes:

shifting the focus from identifying blame to putting things right;

resolving the complaint at a local level;

13 May 2009 : Column 804W

emphasis on quality assurance rather than bureaucratic checks;

providing information more quickly.

The proposals also tie into the recent reform of the police misconduct system and together will have significant impact on investigations into complaints against the police, and how these complaints are resolved.

The proposals for change were published in an IPCC consultation document ‘Building on Experience—taking stock of the new police complaints system after four years operational experience’, which ran from 23 June and ran until 12 September 2008. In general there was strong support for the proposals, and in light of the responses the IPCC have started to implement those proposals not requiring legislative change.

Police: Finance

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Band A council tax police precept after capping was in each police authority in England and Wales in each year since 1997-98. [273107]

Mr. Coaker: The information requested is set out in the following tables:

13 May 2009 : Column 805W

13 May 2009 : Column 806W

Precept (Band A) increases by police authority 1997-98 to 2009- 10
£
Police authority	1997-98	1998-99	1999- 200 0	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04
Avon and Somerset	34.69	36.57	40.41	45.06	48.44	55.60	74.43
Bedfordshire	35.01	37.23	40.91	44.65	46.84	52.46	62.29
Cambridgeshire	34.02	32.16	34.74	41.64	45.36	63.06	75.54
Cheshire	34.11	35.91	37.52	40.71	43.11	49.03	58.73
Cleveland	36.58	32.29	41.70	43.72	46.34	64.09	80.15
Cumbria	38.80	48.23	52.18	56.15	60.40	66.99	87.14
Derbyshire	34.21	38.20	43.90	47.41	50.25	61.31	74.51
Devon and Cornwall	33.19	32.20	35.68	39.25	41.21	49.20	68.85
Dorset	42.39	47.07	51.42	56.28	61.50	69.00	82.26
Durham	34.80	32.40	33.60	35.10	37.62	42.96	53.04
Essex	36.06	41.52	43.38	45.30	47.34	51.78	61.98
Gloucestershire	34.11	38.49	45.93	51.99	54.70	62.67	95.06
Hampshire	34.50	33.42	35.94	36.72	39.36	50.10	64.86
Hertfordshire	34.34	39.22	42.36	45.33	48.26	54.01	65.52
Humberside	34.98	34.98	36.54	40.20	57.18	63.60	75.36
Kent	34.39	32.27	34.99	37.15	40.17	49.09	63.30
Lancashire	35.50	35.61	38.46	41.73	45.26	49.24	58.38
Leicestershire	34.84	40.81	42.53	45.20	50.35	63.47	69.85
Lincolnshire	46.02	52.62	54.66	57.66	60.24	63.24	69.60
Norfolk	33.72	35.76	42.90	48.06	55.74	66.90	81.30
Northamptonshire	47.04	46.19	50.72	53.10	55.33	70.17	86.73
North Yorkshire	33.15	32.31	34.80	38.03	41.73	59.06	104.00
Nottinghamshire	33.19	36.21	41.03	43.45	46.78	56.78	72.87
Staffordshire	36.49	48.28	52.57	55.62	62.91	67.29	84.33
Suffolk	34.26	34.92	37.44	40.74	44.76	54.72	72.90
Surrey	29.76	44.04	50.16	52.94	55.39	64.29	90.06
Sussex	34.44	33.96	35.46	37.02	39.42	46.56	65.16
Thames Valley	35.19	33.84	37.69	40.23	42.99	48.99	70.83
Warwickshire	34.83	41.39	47.45	51.71	56.78	67.85	78.20
West Mercia	33.91	35.76	39.33	49.37	52.33	69.67	79.87
Wiltshire	36.81	41.85	45.99	50.56	55.51	61.03	73.12
Total Shires	35.19	37.33	40.83	42.69	47.90	56.52	72.47
Greater Manchester	36.07	37.52	40.15	41.81	43.11	45.91	61.10
Merseyside	44.58	47.85	51.63	54.21	56.91	63.17	67.69
Northumbria	35.15	31.78	33.21	34.71	37.10	38.77	42.53
South Yorkshire	35.53	36.19	37.81	39.51	41.86	49.39	62.87
West Midlands	35.47	32.66	34.13	36.51	38.14	41.25	47.44
West Yorkshire	35.45	34.94	36.51	39.15	40.55	50.61	59.21
Total Mets	36.70	36.35	38.39	40.51	42.33	47.37	56.33
Total England (excl London)	35.56	37.10	40.25	42.19	46.60	54.38	68.71
Metropolitan	42.18	50.99	55.01	60.63	79.23	87.06	106.09
Total England (inc London)	36.73	39.55	42.84	45.12	51.87	59.68	74.77
Dyfed-Powys	32.28	39.72	48.66	56.94	60.60	65.40	82.74
Gwent	32.73	36.24	39.83	49.98	56.02	63.45	79.41
North Wales	32.35	39.03	44.22	52.33	55.15	64.35	84.63
South Wales	32.81	37.50	43.57	53.61	57.05	59.90	69.01
Total Wales	32.59	38.02	43.94	53.23	57.03	62.58	77.07
Total England and Wales	36.49	39.46	42.91	45.57	52.16	59.85	74.91

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