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11 Jan 2010 : Column 696W—continued

Flanagan Review of Policing

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the recommendations of the Flanagan Review of Policing have (a) been implemented (i) in full and (ii) in part and (b) not been implemented; on which date each such recommendation was implemented; and if he will make a statement. [303907]

Mr. Hanson: Sir Ronnie Flanagan's Independent Review of Policing in England and Wales was published in two stages: his interim report in September 2007 containing 26 recommendations; and his full report in February 2008 containing a further 33 recommendations.

31 of the recommendations across both reports have been noted as closed, indicating they have either been implemented or developed under another recommendation. These recommendations are listed in table 1.

Work is in progress to deliver a further 27 recommendations which have been partially implemented. The recommendations that we assess to be in this category are listed in table 2. Recommendation three in the interim report was considered as part of the Green Paper, but has not been progressed.

Work is being taken forward in conjunction with the National Policing Improvement Agency and Jan Berry, the independent Reducing Bureaucracy Advocate, to address the areas where progress has been relatively slow. This forms part of the wider approach to reducing bureaucracy and freeing up officers to deliver for the public.

Tables 1 and 2 have been placed in the Library.

Hotels

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department spent on hotel accommodation for (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) civil servants in each of the last five years. [305671]

Mr. Woolas: Information relating to Home Office Ministers hotel expenditure can be accessed by visiting webpage:

We are unable to collate information relating to expenses incurred by civil servants and special advisers due to disproportionate costs.

Human Trafficking: Children

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children have been referred to the human trafficking national referral mechanism by local authorities in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Wales since 1 April 2009. [309626]

Mr. Woolas: Between 1 April 2009 and 31 December 2009, the number of potential victims under 18 years of age referred into the National Referral mechanism by local authorities totals 57. This is composed of six from local authorities in Scotland, 47 from local authorities in England and four from local authorities in Wales. There have not been any referrals during this period from local authorities in Northern Ireland.


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Immigrants: Detainees

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what gender-sensitive policies and procedures his Department implements in respect of women held at immigration removal centres. [307422]

Mr. Woolas [holding answer 15 December 2010]: The Detention Centre Rules 2001 (S.I. 2001/238), which regulate the operation of immigration removal centres, make specific reference to the conditions for searching of women and their entitlement to be examined by a medical practitioner of the same gender.

The UK Border Agency has a specific operation standard for women which sets out minimum auditable requirements for the provision of a safe and secure environment that meets their needs. This includes the provision of separate sleeping and dining accommodation for those centres where they can mix, equality of access to all activities within the centres, provision of activities appropriate to their needs and interests such as single-sex gym sessions, and seeking their views when arranging activities.

Intercept as Evidence Review

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse has been of (a) staging mock trials to test the viability of intercept evidence in court and (b) other costs incurred in reviewing the use of intercept evidence since the commissioning of the Chilcot Review. [308844]

Alan Johnson [holding answer 6 January 2010]: The information is as follows:

The costs of the original Privy Council review (Cm7324) were set out in that report as £0.1 million.

Macfarlan Smith

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answers of 10 December 2007, Official Report, columns 213-15W and 29 January 2008, Official Report, column 211W on Macfarlan Smith, when the work which commenced on 5 October 2006 will be completed; when the data collection and assessment will be completed; and when it is intended for the study to be published. [300337]

Mr. Hanson: The study that commenced on 5 October 2006 was completed in March 2008. A copy will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Members: Correspondence

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for West Derbyshire of 7 October 2009 concerning South African nationals, reference: PM/OP/Gibbs. [307114]


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Mr. Woolas [holding answer 14 December 2009]: A reply to this letter was sent on 15 December 2009.

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to reply to the letter of 5 November 2009 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr A. Ahmad. [309152]

Alan Johnson: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 22 December 2009.

Northamptonshire Police: Manpower

Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers, (b) police community support officers and (c) civilian staff there were in Northamptonshire Constabulary in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2008. [308706]

Mr. Hanson: There were 1,177 police officers in Northamptonshire constabulary as at 31 March 1997 and 1,264 police officers as at 31 March 2008.

Police community support officers were not introduced until 2002-03. There were 12 police community support officers in Northamptonshire constabulary as at 31 March 2003 and 159 as at 31 March 2008.

There were 554 civilian staff in Northamptonshire constabulary as at 31 March 1997 and 979 civilian staff as at 31 March 2008.

This and other related data are published annually as part of the annual Police Service Strength Home Office Statistical Bulletin. The latest bulletin can be found at:

and bulletins for this and previous years are deposited in the Library of the House.

Police

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what evaluation his Department has made of the effects of the joint Home Office/Department for Transport/Association of Chief Police Officers strategy on roads policing published in January 2005; and if he will make a statement. [309529]

Mr. Hanson: We have not conducted a specific formal review of the strategy statement but implementation of the strategy forms a specific part of the National Community Safety Plan. We liaise regularly with the Department for Transport and ACPO on developments within the context of the strategy.

Police: Bureaucracy

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to reduce the number of forms police officers are required to complete in respect of each prosecution; what recent discussions he has had with the Police Federation on that matter; and if he will make a statement. [303906]

Mr. Hanson: The Policing Green Paper, published in July 2008, committed the Government to cut red tape and improve police processes to free officers up to deal
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with the issues that matter to the public. This has been built upon by the Policing White Paper, published on 2 December 2009.

To date we have made the following progress:

Action on forms is part of a wider approach to bureaucracy reduction, focusing on the simplification of policing processes and more effective management of risk. Jan Berry has been appointed as the independent reducing bureaucracy advocate to challenge Government and the police service to make further progress on these issues, supported by a practitioner group of police officers and staff. Her full report, Reducing Bureaucracy in Policing, was published on 2 December 2009.

As set out in the White Paper, we will also work with police stakeholders to encourage forces themselves to take responsibility for reducing bureaucracy. This includes reducing the amount and size of forms that officers and staff need to fill in. Jan Berry will be asked to report on this in her final report in summer 2010.

Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with the Police Federation and other staff associations at which bureaucracy is discussed along with other policing issues.

Police: Olympic Games 2012

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with the Minister for the Olympics on the policing of the London 2012 Olympics. [308472]

Mr. Hanson [holding answer 5 January 2010]: Security planning for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games is discussed at regular meetings of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on National Security, International Relations and Development (Protective Security and Resilience) (NS)D (PSR)) which my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary chairs and which my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Olympics attends. The Minister for the Olympics has also had several recent discussions with Admiral the Lord West of Spithead, the responsible Minister for Olympic security, about policing and related security issues around the games.

Radicalism

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with (a) the Council of Europe and (b) the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on measures to tackle extremism; and if he will make a statement. [301465]

Mr. Hanson: The UK is an active, founding member of the Council of Europe, which is a standard setter on democracy, human rights and the rule of law. We are fully engaged in Council of Europe work on the fight against extremism and terrorism.


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The UK Government are clear that any form of violent extremism is unacceptable. The Government deplore all attacks, whatever their motivation which are engineered by any extremist group. A key element of CONTEST, the Government's strategy for countering international terrorism, is "Prevent"-that is to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting violent extremism. To do this we need to prevent people supporting violent extremism and the ideology that fuels terrorism. Part of our Prevent work is to challenge those who support violence. But we also want to actively promote the shared values (including democracy and the rule of law) on which our society and the cohesion of our communities depend. We aim to do this by working in partnership with communities to challenge the ideology of violent extremism and disrupt those who promote it. The Government aim to empower all communities to reject violent extremism. We are also working with police forces, local authorities, schools and universities, and local communities to protect vulnerable individuals from radicalisation.

Reducing Bureaucracy Practitioners Group

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times the Reducing Bureaucracy Practitioners Group has met since December 2008; and at how many of those meetings were (a) officials and (b) Ministers from his Department present. [308955]

Mr. Hanson: The Reducing Bureaucracy Practitioners Group (RBPG) has met seven times since it was established in December 2008 by Jan Berry, the independent advocate for reducing bureaucracy in policing. The RBPG consists of front line officers and staff, but Home Office officials have accepted an invitation to attend six out of the seven meetings to date.

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made developing a website for the Reducing Bureaucracy Practitioners Group; and if he will make a statement. [308956]

Mr. Hanson: The website:

has been developed and is now available to view.

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals the Reducing Bureaucracy Practitioners Group have made; which of those have been adopted; and if he will make a statement. [308957]

Mr. Hanson: The Reducing Bureaucracy Practitioners Group (RBPG) is made up of frontline officers and staff, and was established as an advisory and consultative group by Jan Berry the independent advocate for reducing bureaucracy in policing.

Jan Berry regularly draws on their expertise to inform her work, and sub-groups are looking at specific issues such as constructing minimum data sets for crime recording and for the recording of missing persons, and comparing force risk assessments in relation to domestic violence incidents.


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The RBPG's work contributed significantly to Jan Berry's recent report-"Reducing Bureaucracy in Policing" published on 2 December 2009.

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints the Investigatory Powers Tribunal has (a) considered and (b) upheld on the misuse of powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. [308734]

Mr. Hanson: Information on the number of complaints made and upheld is given in the published annual reports of the Interception of Communications Commissioner and the Intelligence Services Commissioner. They are summarised as follows:

Applications received Investigations concluded

2 October to 31 December 2001

102

71

1 January to 31 December 2002

130

194

1 January to 31 December 2003

109

100

1 January to 31 December 2004

90

115

1 January to 31 December 2005

80

93

1 January to 31 December 2006

86

81

1 January to 31 December 2007

66

83

1 January to 31 December 2008

136

70


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