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25 Jan 2010 : Column 649W—continued
Police
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police warrant cards have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen in each year since 1997. [312770]
Mr. Hanson: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Police: Greater Manchester
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) police officers and (b) police civilian staff there were in Greater Manchester in (i) 1997, (ii) 2008 and (iii) 2009; and how many police community support officers there were in Greater Manchester in (A) 2008 and (B) 2009; [312209]
(2) how many police officers there were in Greater Manchester in each of the last 10 years. [312210]
Mr. Hanson: The requested data are published annually in the Home Office Police Service Strength Statistical Bulletin. Recent editions are available on the Home Office website and all past editions from the Library of the House.
The requested data are provided in the tables for the hon. Member's convenience.
| Police workforce strength (FTE)( 1) in Greater Manchester by police force as at 31 March in the given years | |||||||||||||
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003( 3) | 2004( 3) | 2005( 3) | 2006( 3) | 2007( 3) | 2008( 3) | 2009( 3) | |
| Police workforce strength (FTE)( 1) in Greater Manchester by police force as at 31 March in the given years | |||
| 1997 | 2,008 | 2,009 | |
| (1) This and other tables contain full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Comparable strength is provided for officers (excludes those on career breaks, or maternity/paternity leave). The Police Numbers Task Force (2001) recommended that a clear presentation was made of the numbers of staff employed by police forces including those seconded into the force and those on any type of long or short term absence. These new calculations were first used in 2003, and are not comparable with data prior to March 2003. The data from 2003 onwards used here are termed comparable because they have been calculated on the old basis to allow comparison. (3) Civilian Staff have been referred to as Police Staff since March 2003. Figures exclude Traffic Wardens, Police Community Support Officers and Designated Officers (s.38). (4) Staff strength figures for 2003 onwards include those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. Therefore these figures are not comparable with those provided for other years in the table. (5) Full-time equivalent figures for PCSOs include those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. (6) Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data are not available prior to 2002-03. | |||
Serious Organised Crime Agency: Expenditure
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the (a) largest, (b) smallest and (c) average expenditure was on a Serious and Organised Crime Agency operation in each year since the Agency was established; and if he will make a statement; [312813]
(2) how much and what proportion of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency's budget was spent on operations in each year since it was established; and if he will make a statement. [312814]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Operations undertaken by the Serious Organised Crime Agency vary considerably in terms of their nature, resource requirements and length. Many operations run for several years. SOCA does not 'cost' each operation. SOCA aims to apportion its operational effort against the main threats which are causing harm to the UK. These apportionments are set out in SOCA's annual plan for 2009-10.
Theft: Wales
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what crime rates were reported for (a) vehicle-related theft and (b) burglary in a dwelling in North Wales in each of the last three years. [311717]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Estimates of crime rates for the offence groups of vehicle-related thefts and burglaries in a dwelling are not available for North Wales from the British Crime Survey (BCS) as the size of the BCS sample is not sufficient to provide robust estimates for individual offence groups at police force area level.
The available information relates to offences recorded by the police and rates for North Wales are given in the following table.
| Rates per 1,000 population/household for selected offences recorded by the police in North Wales | |||
| Vehicle-related theft( 1) | Burglary in a dwelling | ||
| Rate per 1,000 population | Rate per 1,000 population | Rate per 1,000 households | |
| (1) Includes theft of or from a vehicle. | |||
Vauxhall
Kate Hoey:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Vauxhall
constituency, the effects on the constituency of changes to his Department's policies since 1997. [310330]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Home Office has introduced a range of policies and initiatives since 1997. However, it is not always possible to quantify their effects particularly at constituency level. The available statistical information therefore relates to the London borough of Lambeth.
In terms of police recorded crime in Lambeth, between 2002-03 and 2008-09, total recorded crime fell by 35 per cent. More specifically
Violence against the person-down 14 per cent.
Sexual offences-down 20 per cent.
Robbery-down 46 per cent.
Burglary-down 39 per cent.
Offences against vehicles-down 56 per cent.
Other theft offences-down 38 per cent.
Criminal damage-down 43 per cent.
Drug offences-up 33 per cent.
Data prior to 2002-03 are not directly comparable because of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. Additionally, no data at borough level are available prior to 1998-99.
Lambeth operational command unit had 1,010 police officers as at 30 September 2009. The number of police officers has increased by 174 since 2001. Comparisons with 1997 for Lambeth are not available. There were 170 police community support officers as at 30 September 2009 while there were none in existence in 1997.
The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 saw positive effects with the statutory duty to create a crime and disorder reduction partnership (CDRP). The CDRP has brought new ways of working in a cross-cutting way with the police, council and other key stakeholders and genuine partnership working to help tackle complex issues.
The CDRP paved the way for the Safer Neighbourhoods initiatives where there is now a dedicated police resource in each of the 21 wards in Lambeth, which were not in place in 1997.
Lambeth's CDRP and wider partnership approach has been recognised as good practice and overall crime levels continue to reduce: there was a reduction in the seven consecutive years up to 2009.
Before 1997 there were no bespoke powers to tackle antisocial behaviour but there are now a range of powers to deal with this issue. These include antisocial behaviour orders and designated public places orders (DPPO) from the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. Lambeth adopted a DPPO for Bishops Ward in Vauxhall in 2005 and a borough-wide controlled drinking zone is now in operation.
In 1997, there were 40 CCTV cameras in Lambeth and since then two main schemes have been developed increasing CCTV to 966 cameras. The town centre scheme which has 133 cameras and 833 in housing estates and there are additionally Transport for London cameras.
The south bank within the Vauxhall ward has been awarded £1.2 million for 'target hardening' activities (e.g. hydraulic bollards).
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Genetically Modified Organisms: Nature Conservation
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research he has evaluated on the effects on mammalian health of genetically-modified products. [311871]
Gillian Merron: I have been asked to reply.
Since September 2007, the Food Standards Agency has sought advice from the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) on the conclusions which may be drawn from the following published research on the effects on mammalian health of genetically modified organisms (GMOs):
1. Malatesta et al., (2008), Histochem Cell Biol, 130, pp967-977
2. Kilic and Akay, (2008), Food and Chemical Toxicology, 46, pp1164-1170
3. Finamore et al., (2008), J Agric Food Chem. DOI: 10.1021/jf802059w
4. Lelimirov et al., (2008), Forschungsberichte der Sektion IV, Band 3/2008, published by the Austrian Ministry of Health
The ACNFP considered these publications at its meetings in September and November 2008 and February 2009. It advised that it was not possible to draw any conclusions about cause and effect in these publications or to assess the significance of these reports for mammalian (including human) health. The minutes of these meetings are available on the ACNFP website at:
Wind Power: Planning Permission
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the fee accompanying a planning application for a wind turbine development is allocated to the local authority responsible for the initial assessment; and if he will make a statement. [312563]
Mr. Ian Austin: I have been asked to reply.
Wind turbines can currently be considered through the Electricity Act 1989, Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Transport and Works Act 1992. Planning application fees for wind turbines considered under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 will go to the relevant local planning authority that receives the application. From 1 March applications for onshore wind turbines generating more than 50 Megawatts will be considered by the Infrastructure Planning Commission under the Planning Act 2008.
Cabinet Office
Charities: Complaints
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate she has made of the number and percentage of charities which do not have established complaints procedures in the latest year for which figures are available. [312340]
Angela E. Smith: I have asked the chief executive of the Charity Commission to reply:
Letter from Andrew Hind, dated January 2010:
As the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, I have been asked to respond to your written Parliamentary Question on the number and percentage of charities which do not have established complaints procedures in the latest year for which figures are available (312340).
The Commission does not hold this information on charities centrally and there is no requirement for them to report to us regularly on it. However, in 2005 we conducted a survey, the results of which were published in our report, "Cause for Complaint? How charities manage complaints about their services". This found that, of the 1,129 charities surveyed, 69% of charities did not have a complaints procedure. The figure ranged from 38% among very large charities (those with an annual income of over £1 million) to 86% among small charities (those with an income of £10,000 or less). Further details are below.
| Does your organisation have a complaints procedure? | |||||
| Percentage | |||||
| Total | Small | Medium | Large | Very large | |
We commissioned a postal survey of a random sample of 3,000 registered charities, weighted across four income bands. The postal survey achieved a 38% response rate, which is high for surveys of this nature. In total, 1,129 completed forms were returned for analysis. This allows a confidence interval exceeding +/- 3%, which is industry standard. The full publication can be viewed on the Charity Commission website:
We certainly encourage charities to establish complaints procedures as a matter of good practice, but have not repeated this piece of research. I have arranged for a copy of the report to be placed in the Library of the House.
I hope this is helpful.
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