Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the opening and closing hours of (a) the offices, and (b) the telephone lines for Jobcentre Plus for each day from 22 December 2007 to 6 January 2008, including any regional variations for opening and closing hours across the country. [HL860]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): We remain committed to ensuring that we provide the best possible service for all our customers over Christmas.
Our main Jobcentre Plus offices and telephone services will open as follows:
Crisis loan services will be operating throughout this period. Our opening times are designed to allow all telephone claims to be processed so that customers
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Our crisis loan telephone service operating times will be as follows:
Lord Teverson asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many responses have so far been received to the consultation on measures to protect marine biodiversity interests in Lyme Bay from the impact of fishing with dredges and other towed gear. [HL717]
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Rooker): As of 11 December 2007, Defra has received 2,724 responses from participants in the Wildlife Trusts' pro-forma online e-petition, and 91 other responses. It is too early to have carried out any analysis on the subject matter of these responses.
Lord Roberts of Llandudno asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many personal passport interviews have taken place at each of the personal passport interview offices; and how many applications have been successful. [HL823]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): As at 10 December 2007, 41 interview offices dealing with first-time passport customers are in live operations—the table below lists all 41 offices. We anticipate that 62 offices will be fully operational by end December 2007, with a further six opening by end February 2008.
As at 10 December 2007, IPS has conducted 15,800 completed interviews and 94.1 per cent of these interviews have resulted in a passport being issued within three days of completion of appointment; 2.8per cent have not been completed and 3.1 per cent have required further examination.
Lord Christopher asked Her Majesty's Government:
What proposals they have for (a) extending the responsibilities of, and (b) funding, community support officers when present arrangements expire in 2008. [HL806]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Police community support officers—PCSOs—are an invaluable addition to policing and have a primary focus on engaging with their local community, providing high visibility reassurance policing and dealing with low-level crime and anti-social behaviour. Their responsibilities are primarily determined locally by chief constables to suit local policing priorities.
From 1 December 2007, the Government have introduced a list of standard powers for PCSOs to ensure that all staff designated in this important role will have achieved a minimum standard of training and attained the appropriate level of competency. This will provide consistency of approach throughout England and Wales and provide clarity on the role of and expectations on PCSOs.
On 23 November, my right honourable friend the Home Secretary announced a project aimed at the greater standardisation of equipment, uniforms, training and career development. The Association of Chief Police Officers has commissioned the National Policing Improvement Agency—NPIA—to lead this project, which will report shortly. The project will work to ensure that the PCSO role is clear and understood and it will allow forces to learn lessons and enshrine good practice across the country. Since effective community engagement is a challenging and demanding task, requiring both mature and highly capable individuals, the Home Office will also now introduce a code of practice setting out that PCSOs should be at least 18 years old.
My right honourable friend informed Parliament in a Written Ministerial Statement of 6 December 2007 (Official Report, col. WS224), of her proposals for allocation of police grant for England and Wales from 2008-09 to 2010-11. A total of £324 million will
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Baroness Falkner of Margravine asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many ethnic minority police officers left the Metropolitan Police Authority with less than two years' service in the last year for which figures are available. [HL862]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): The available data relate to the 2006-07 financial year, when 16 ethnic minority police officers with less than two years’ service resigned from the Metropolitan Police Service. Additionally, there were no such officers who left the force via transfer, retirement, dismissal or death.