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Warrant Enforcement: Police Funding
Lord Haskel asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What action will they take in respect of funding police authorities for the execution of warrants during 2000-01. [HL4816]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: Transfer of responsibility for warrant enforcement, originally planned for 1 October 2000, has been rescheduled for 1 April 2001. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary is arranging for the relevant funding, £4.34 million, to be allocated to police authorities according to police grant/Standard Spending Assessment levels for 2000-01.
The allocations are given in the table:
| Allocation | |
| Avon & Somerset | £104,455 |
| Bedfordshire | £38,645 |
| Cambridgeshire | £46,632 |
| Cheshire | £67,598 |
| City of London | £32,866 |
| Cleveland | £51,020 |
| Cumbria | £37,498 |
| Derbyshire | £63,384 |
| Devon & Cornwall | £108,050 |
| Dorset | £43,462 |
| Durham | £50,570 |
| Dyfed-Powys | £31,998 |
| Essex | £104,553 |
| Gloucestershire | £38,260 |
| Greater Manchester | £233,104 |
| Gwent | £42,826 |
| Hampshire | £122,464 |
| Hertfordshire | £69,195 |
| Humberside | £70,466 |
| Kent | £115,311 |
| Lancashire | £111,832 |
| Leicestershire | £63,541 |
| Lincolnshire | £39,380 |
| Merseyside | £145,987 |
| Metropolitan Police | £924,557 |
| Norfolk | £52,114 |
| North Wales | £46,797 |
| North Yorkshire | £47,933 |
| Northamptonshire | £40,817 |
| Northumbria | £131,131 |
| Nottinghamshire | £77,976 |
| South Wales | £100,716 |
| South Yorkshire | £106,677 |
| Staffordshire | £70,242 |
| Suffolk | £42,854 |
| Surrey | £62,768 |
| Sussex | £103,945 |
| Thames Valley | £139,461 |
| Warwickshire | £32,614 |
| West Mercia | £70,324 |
| West Midlands | £236,757 |
| West Yorkshire | £179,031 |
| Wiltshire | £40,189 |
| 4,340,000 |
Firearms Act 1997: Delayed Compensation
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether, following the House of Lords ruling on the claim of Mr D Steed against the Home Secretary for interest on the delayed compensation for property confiscated under the Firearms (Amendment) Acts 1997, they will now pay interest on similar cases without the need for claimants to pursue the Home Secretary through the courts. [HL4625]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The House of Lords ruled in the appeal case of David Steed v the Home Office that a firearms compensation claimant could bring proceedings against the Home Office in the County Court to claim for unpaid compensation. In line with the normal court procedures in such a case, a claimant would also be entitled to claim simple interest at the statutory rate if successful and if the payment of compensation was regarded as being "late". The House of Lords did not stipulate what a reasonable
time for payment might be and, indeed, recognised that different periods would apply in different cases. The ruling in the Steed case does not therefore create a general entitlement to interest and there are no plans to make such payments.Electronically Monitored Curfew Orders
Lord Windlesham asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What date electronically monitored curfew orders were made available to the courts in England and Wales as an additional community order; how many orders have been made in each year since introduction; and what have been the failure rates, either because the offender failed to conform to the terms of the order, or because of faults in the electronic equipment. [HL4704]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: Curfew orders with electronic monitoring were made available to all courts in England and Wales on 1 December 1999. From this date up to 20 November 2000, a total of 4,693 curfew orders with electronic monitoring have been made. Of these, 424 (9 per cent) have been revoked. Figures on the reasons for revocation are not centrally available.
Mandatory Sentences
Lord Windlesham asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many convicted offenders have been sentenced under each of the three categories of mandatory sentence in conformity with the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997; and on what dates were the provisions brought into force. [HL4673]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: Section 2 of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 (now Section 109 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000) provided for an automatic life sentence for a second serious sexual or violent offence. Section 3 of the 1997 Act (now Section 110 of the 2000 Act) provided for a minimum seven years' imprisonment for a person convicted for a third time of a Class A drug trafficking offence. These provisions were both implemented on 1 October 1997. Section 4 of the 1997 Act (now Section 111 of the 2000 Act) provides for a minimum sentence of three years' imprisonment. This was implemented on 1 December 1999.
We have a record of 260 life sentences imposed under what is now Section 109 of the PCC(S)A. We only have reliable figures for sentences imposed under what is now Section 110 of the PCC(S)A for the period from December 1999 to June 2000 inclusive. During that period, four offenders were sentenced under that provision. There have been no sentences under what is now Section 111 of the PCC(S)A.
Remands to Custody, 15-16 Year-olds
Baroness David asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many remands to custody have been made since 1 April in relation to males aged 15 to 16, broken down by age and ethnicity.[HL4553]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: The requested information is set out in the table below.
| Number | |
| Asian, Bangladeshi | 1 |
| Asian, Indian | 0 |
| Asian, Other | 1 |
| Asian, Pakistani | 4 |
| Black, African | 8 |
| Black, Caribbean | 20 |
| Black, Other | 9 |
| Mixed, Other | 2 |
| Mixed, White and Asian | 1 |
| Mixed, White and Black African | 3 |
| Mixed, White and Black Caribbean | 8 |
| Not Available | 11 |
| Other Ethnic Group | 0 |
| White, British | 235 |
| White, Irish | 8 |
| White, Other | 5 |
| Number | |
| Asian, Bangladeshi | 3 |
| Asian, Indian | 4 |
| Asian, Other | 4 |
| Asian, Pakistani | 10 |
| Black, African | 18 |
| Black, Caribbean | 45 |
| Black, Other | 20 |
| Mixed, Other | 4 |
| Mixed, White and Asian | 0 |
| Mixed, White and Black African | 2 |
| Mixed, White and Black Caribbean | 22 |
| Not Available | 30 |
| Other Ethnic Group | 6 |
| White, British | 568 |
| White, Irish | 9 |
| White, Other | 7 |
Police Grant Allocations
Lord Gladwin of Clee asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When will they announce the allocations of police grant for individual police authorities in England and Wales for 2001-02.[HL4814]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has today put a copy of his proposals for the allocation of police grant for 2001-02 in the Library. He intends to implement these proposals subject to consideration of any representations he receives about them.
The total provision for policing in 2001-02 is £8,495 million. This is an increase of 10.1 per cent over
the initial provision for this year. He proposes to distribute the police settlement as follows.| 2000-01 | 2001-02 | Increase | ||
| £ million | £ million | £ million | % increase | |
| (a) Total Standard Spending | 7,354 | 7,732 | 377 | 5.13 |
| (b) Special police grants and central support services | 219 | 531 | 312 | |
| (c) Police Authority capital | 144 | 232 | 88 | |
| Total | 7,718 | 8,495 | 777 | 10.06 |
* All figures rounded to nearest £ million.
Police funding proposals within the local government finance system are being announced today by my right honourable friend the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Ms Armstrong, and by the National Assembly for Wales. These proposals and my right honourable friend the Home Secretary's would provide Total Standard Spending on the police in England and Wales of £7,731.774 million, an increase of around £377.4 million or 5.1 per cent over the comparable provision for 2000-2001.
The overall increase is 5.1 per cent, but increases for individual police authorities vary. The formula used to determine the distribution of grant/Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) is unchanged for 2001-02. The main reasons for differences between police authorities result from changes in the data applied from one year to the next. These include changes in population, unemployment, projected pensions commitments and the Area Cost Adjustment.
My right honourable friend the Home Secretary proposes that the Metropolitan Police Service should continue to receive additional funding in recognition of its distinct national and capital city functions. It has proved very difficult for the principal formula to take account of these special circumstances. As in previous years, therefore, a special payment of grant will be made to the Metropolitan Police Service over and above that available through the principal formula. He has set the amount of this special payment at £191 million; which is included in the total provision.
My right honourable friend the Home Secretary proposes to make special payments of grant to the following police authorities in 2001-02 in recognition of the additional costs which will be incurred as a result of the changes to the Metropolitan Police District boundaries as follows:
- Essex: £14,000
- Hertfordshire: £627,000
- Surrey: £1,609,000
ecial Police Grants and Central Support Services
The substantial increase since the last settlement provides the opportunity to develop a number of specific ringfenced initiatives:
- Crime Fighting Fund: (£151 million, for which up to £129 million will be targeted grants) for the estimated cost in 2001-2002 of police officers recruited this year and next, over and above forces' existing recruitment plans. The overall cost includes recruitment and training. Targets agreed with each force for recruitment, and performance against them, will be reviewed regularly. Actual payments to police authorities will be based on performance.
- Rural Policing Fund: (£30 million) to help address the particular pressures of policing rural areas. The payment follows an allocation of £15 million made this year. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary will expect police authorities to demonstrate how they have used the added investment to reduce crime and the fear of crime in more rural areas.
- Airwave: (£49 million) for introduction of the public safety radio communication system. The total includes up to £32.488 million grants to police authorities for start-up costs for introduction of Airwave. Grants will be paid to forces taking Airwave in 2001-2002. Similar arrangements will apply in future in the year each force joins the system. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary will also provide centrally for payment centrally of the core service charge to the contractor. He envisages that the total provision in the years 2001-02 to 2003-04 (for start up, capital and core costs) will reach £500 million.
- Basic Command Unit Fund: (£5 million) to support and encourage initiatives to prevent crime and the fear of crime at the policing level closest to the general public and to extend inspection to BCU performance. Details of the scheme are being developed.
- DNA Expansion Project: (£63 million) for processing samples, scientific support, training and evidential casework. Work on how most effectively to target this money is in hand.
- National Strategy for Police Information Systems: (£12 million) to support information system developments by forces on behalf of the service.
My right honourable friend the Home Secretary intends to increase the provision of grant and supplementary credit approvals from £144.43 million this year to £157.43 million next year. Allocations will reflect any remaining outstanding undertakings given to support particular capital projects and will otherwise be guided as in previous years by the grant/SSA formula. In addition, capital grants for the introduction of Airwave (up to £75 million) will be made available to those police authorities taking up
the service in 2001-02. Grants will be made in future years to those taking up the service subsequently.My right honourable friend the Home Secretary will inform the House of any significant allocations of grant to police authorities for these initiatives.
Several projects to be carried forward next year were launched or increased with new money this year, in addition to that in the settlement for 2000-01. The original targets in the Crime Fighting Fund were accelerated (£24 million), the Rural Policing fund was introduced (£15 million), provision was made for special initiatives to counter robbery in metropolitan areas (£20 million) and a central programme of recruitment advertising to support local police authority initiatives was launched (£7 million).
The settlement continues to take account of my commitment to improve police efficiency. For the third year running, my right honourable friend the Home Secretary has set a target of 2 per cent efficiency gains year on year for the police service from 2001-2002. As in previous years, police authorities may invest the savings to help meet front line policing priorities. Police grant allocations for 2002-2003 will be considered in the light of police authorities meeting the 2 per cent efficiency targets. Authorities which fail to achieve the efficiency gain sought may be subject to an appropriate deduction from their resources. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary is pleased that performance this year is such that it has not been necessary to apply this sanction to the grant allocations for 2001-2002.
My right honourable friend the Home Secretary expects police authorities in England to exercise restraint and sound financial management by setting budgets that are responsible, prudent and reasonable. We shall be monitoring the position very carefully. The National Assembly for Wales is responsible for exercising reserve powers to limit council tax increases in Wales.
| Police Authority | 2000-01 Allocation(1) £m | 2001-02 Allocation(1) £m | % Change |
| English Shire forces | |||
| Avon & Somerset | 173.7 | 181.5 | 4.4% |
| Bedfordshire | 64.1 | 68.0 | 6.2% |
| Cambridgeshire | 77.2 | 81.3 | 5.4% |
| Cheshire | 111.9 | 118.6 | 5.9% |
| Cleveland | 84.7 | 88.8 | 4.8% |
| Cumbria | 62.2 | 64.8 | 4.2% |
| Derbyshire | 105.4 | 111.1 | 5.4% |
| Devon & Cornwall | 178.9 | 187.9 | 5.0% |
| Dorset | 72.4 | 75.0 | 3.7% |
| Durham | 83.9 | 87.5 | 4.3% |
| Essex | 174.8 | 185.3 | 6.1% |
| Gloucestershire | 63.5 | 67.0 | 5.5% |
| Hampshire | 202.7 | 213.9 | 5.5% |
| Hertfordshire | 117.2 | 122.9 | 4.8% |
| Humberside | 116.9 | 121.1 | 3.6% |
| Kent | 191.2 | 204.4 | 6.9% |
| Lancashire | 185.3 | 193.0 | 4.2% |
| Leicestershire | 105.6 | 110.8 | 4.9% |
| Lincolnshire | 65.4 | 68.6 | 4.9% |
| Norfolk | 86.5 | 91.5 | 5.8% |
| North Yorkshire | 79.7 | 84.0 | 5.4% |
| Northamptonshire | 67.7 | 70.9 | 4.8% |
| Nottinghamshire | 130.0 | 136.1 | 4.6% |
| Staffordshire | 116.8 | 121.7 | 4.2% |
| Suffolk | 70.9 | 75.0 | 5.8% |
| Surrey | 112.8 | 111.0 | -1.6% |
| Sussex | 172.4 | 181.8 | 5.4% |
| Thames Valley | 231.7 | 245.2 | 5.8% |
| Warwickshire | 54.3 | 57.0 | 5.0% |
| West Mercia | 117.2 | 124.4 | 6.1% |
| Wiltshire | 66.7 | 69.5 | 4.2% |
| English Metropolitan forces | |||
| Greater Manchester | 386.1 | 404.6 | 4.8% |
| Merseyside | 242.3 | 252.7 | 4.3% |
| Northumbria | 218.4 | 227.7 | 4.2% |
| South Yorkshire | 177.2 | 184.8 | 4.3% |
| West Midlands | 392.7 | 409.8 | 4.3% |
| West Yorkshire | 297.1 | 310.7 | 4.6% |
| London forces | |||
| Metropolitan Police(2) | 1,731.2 | 1,823.3 | 5.3% |
| City of London(3) | 56.4 | 57.4 | 1.8% |
| English Total | 7,045.1 | 7,390.5 | 4.9% |
| Welsh forces | |||
| Dyfed-Powys | 53.2 | 56.3 | 6.0% |
| Gwent | 71.9 | 75.1 | 4.4% |
| North Wales | 77.5 | 82.2 | 6.1% |
| South Wales | 167.6 | 176.1 | 5.0% |
| Welsh total | 370.2 | 389.8 | 5.3% |
| TOTAL | 7,415.3 | 7,780.3 | 4.9% |
Notes:
(1) Rounded to the nearest £100,000. The Allocation is the sum of: Police Grant, Transitional Grant, Police SSA, Capital Finance SSA, SSA Reduction Grant and Central Support Protection Grant. Figures for Capital Finance SSA are provisional.
(2) Figure for the Metropolitan Police includes its Special Payment.
(3) Figure for the City includes Police SSA, Grant and SSA Reduction Grant, but excludes other SSAs (eg Capital Financing) and Central Support Protection Grant. These are allocated to the Common Council of the City of London as a whole in respect of all its functions.
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