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1 Sep 2009 : Column 1888W—continued
Offences Against Children: Internet
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had on progress towards the Government's commitment to ensuring that 80 per cent. of internet service providers (a) use filtering software and (b) prevent access to images of child abuse. [288985]
Mr. Alan Campbell: In 2006 the Government stated that it wished to see 100 per cent. of consumer broadband connections covered by blocking, which includes child abuse images, by the end of 2007. Currently in the UK 95 per cent. of consumer broadband connections are covered by blocking. The Government are currently looking at ways to progress the final 5 per cent. and will set out actions and timescales in due course.
The Kitemark for filtering software developed by the Home Office and OFCOM and in partnership with BSI, was launched in launched April 2008. Currently none have been issued, but the promotion of the Kitemark is a priority for the UK Council for Child Internet Safety under the Industry Working Group. The Government fully support the Kitemark and encourages companies to apply for it.
Passports: Borders
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of people who enter the UK without passing through passport or border controls each year. [288514]
Alan Johnson: Since the phasing out of embarkation controls in 1994 no Government has ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country including those who have failed to present themselves to an immigration officer on arrival or overstayed on their visa. By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately and that remains the case.
Patrol Craft: Finance
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the (a) capital and (b) operating cost of patrol vessels operated by HM Revenue and Customs and the UK Border Agency in each of the last 10 years. [288550]
Alan Johnson: The running costs (including fuel, repairs, defects, spares, refits, maintenance, berthing and ancillary costs) and capital costs (including vessel replacements) for the last 10 years are as follows:
| £ | ||
| Financial year | Running | Capital |
Police
Mr. Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what structures are in place to enable liaison between police forces in Wales and neighbouring police forces in England. [288800]
Mr. Hanson: There are well-established structures for liaison across all forces in England and Wales that Welsh forces and their neighbouring forces avail themselves of. The Association of Chief Police Officers and various staff associations facilitate both formal and informal contact. The National Policing Improvement Agency and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary both promote the sharing of effective practice between forces.
In terms of systems, the Police National Computer and the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System enable forces across England and Wales to exchange information critical to the successful investigation, detection and prevention of crime. All forces have adopted the National Intelligence Model as a way of working; the model itself fosters cross-border collaboration.
Liaison specifically between Welsh forces and neighbouring forces in England also takes place at both a formal and an informal level, facilitated by a number of groups. Issues covered by these groups include distraction burglary, professional standards, major crime review, and drugs.
Police National Computer
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vehicle records on the Police National Computer have an indicator relating to driver information marked against them. [287044]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 20 July 2009]: Based on the latest figures available, from a data extract taken on 1 July 2009, a total of 78,713 vehicle records contained police reports with information about the driver or where action may still be required in connection with the driver/users of the vehicle.
The data presented here are drawn from administrative IT systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. While the figures shown have been checked as far as practicable, they should be regarded as approximate and not necessarily accurate to the last whole number.
Police National Computer: Patrick Brendon Smith
Mr. Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the convictions of Patrick Brendon Smith for rape in Ireland were uploaded to the Police National Computer; and whether those entries included his alias Patrick Reilly. [288096]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 20 July 2009]: Government Ministers are unable to direct officials to search the Police National Computer for an individual's name. The National Policing Improvement Agency is therefore not able to disclose the information requested.
Police: Emergency Calls
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average police response time in each constituency in Wales to 999 calls is. [289014]
Mr. Hanson [holding answer 21 July 2009]: Data on the time taken to respond to incidents resulting from 999 calls are not collected centrally. This is a matter for each individual chief police officer.
Police: Pensions
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of payments made to police pensioners aged (a) under 50, (b) between 51 and 55, (c) between 56 and 60, (d) between 61 and 65 and (e) 65 and over was in (i) the latest year for which figures are available, (ii) 1997, (iii) 2001, (iv) 2005 and (v) 2007. [287826]
Mr. Hanson: Information on expenditure on payments to police pensioners by age group is not held centrally.
Before 2006-07 the previous pay-as-you-go system of financing was in operation, under which police pensions were paid out of forces' operating accounts. Information about the total level of pensions expenditure net of officer contributions is included in the annual reports published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). This information is gathered independently of the Home Office.
Total expenditure on police pensions in payment in 2007-08 to retired officers and police survivors was £2.096 billion.
Police: Powers
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) of 20 May 2009, Official Report, columns 1467-68W, on police: powers, what definition of the term front-line policing he uses. [286933]
Mr. Hanson: The detailed definition of the front-line policing measure is given in the Guidance on Statutory Performance Indicators for Policing. Copies of the definition of the measure have been placed in the House Library.
Police: Retirement
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many chief constables took early retirement in each year since 2001; on what grounds each took early retirement; what pension arrangements each received; and if he will make a statement. [287825]
Mr. Hanson: Under the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 a police officer may retire with an ordinary pension after 25 years' service.
Information on chief constables' retirements is held dating back to September 2001 only. Since that date there have been 55 retirements of chief constables. In all of these cases the individual had served for over 25 years.
Details of the grounds for retirement of chief constables and of their pension arrangements are not held centrally.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation for which his Department was responsible and which made provision for the (i) retirement and (ii) early retirement of police officers has been enacted since 1997. [287827]
Mr. Hanson: There has been no primary legislation introduced since 1997 governing the retirement or early retirement of police officers.
The provisions of the Police Pension Scheme 1987, to which the majority of officers belong, are set out in the Police Pensions Regulations 1987. The following Statutory Instruments made since 1997 have amended the provisions relating to retirement and early retirement in those regulations:
The Police Pensions (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2003/535
The Police Pensions (Amendment) Regulations 2004/1491
The Police Pensions (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2004/2354
The Police Pensions (Part-time Service) Regulations 2005/1439
The Police Pensions (Amendment) Regulations 2008/1887
The following Statutory Instruments also have provisions relating to arrangements governing retirement and early retirement:
The Police Pensions Regulations 2006/3415 setting out the New Police Pension Scheme 2006 which applies to new entrants to the service with effect from 6 April 2006.
The Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006/932 setting out awards for injury or death in the line of duty which are separate from the contributory pension scheme arrangements.
The Police Pension Fund regulations 2007/1932 which set out the new pension scheme financing arrangements which have applied since April 2006.
Poppy Crop
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the (a) size and (b) estimated monetary value of the domestic poppy crop was in the latest period for which figures are available. [288240]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Poppies are grown for many purposes in the UK; some are grown for the extraction of morphine (papaver somniferum) and it is only these poppies that the Home Office holds statistics on.
(a) There are currently 38 sites growing poppies for the extraction of morphine. The total area under cultivation in 2008 amounted to 2,568 hectares, slightly down from 2007 2,745 hectares. Additionally, a small number of organisations grow poppies for research purposes.
(b) The monetary value of the poppies is a commercial matter between the growers and their customers.
Rape
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences of rape have been reported (a) in England and Wales, (b) in East Sussex and (c) in Eastbourne in each of the last five years; and how many of these resulted in (i) a prosecution and (ii) a conviction. [287386]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Information is not available in the form requested as it is not possible to track individual offences through to their outcome at court. The available information relates to the number of offences of rape recorded by the police in the last five financial years. Prosecutions and convictions data are based on the number of offenders and have been provided by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. These data are published on a calendar year basis and are counts of persons classified by their principal offence. For these reasons the two datasets are not directly comparable.
Table 1 gives the number of offences of rape recorded by the police in England and Wales, Sussex and Eastbourne. Data for East Sussex are not available.
Table 2 provides data on the number of defendants proceeded against and convicted for all rape offences for England and Wales and Sussex. Data for East Sussex and Eastbourne are not available.
| Table 1: Offences of rape recorded in England and Wales, Sussex and the Eastbourne Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership area | |||
| Financial year | England and Wales | Sussex | Eastbourne |
| Table 2: Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for rape and attempted rape offences, Sussex police force area and England and Wales, 2003 to 2007( 1, 2) | ||||||||||
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | ||||||
| Proceed against | Found guilty | Proceed against | Found guilty | Proceed against | Found guilty | Proceed against | Found guilty | Proceed against | Found guilty | |
| (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. (2 )Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. | ||||||||||
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