John Denham: The table shows recorded violent crime (violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery) and other crime statistics in Surrey for the 12 months to September 2000. Offence Number Violence against the person 6,594 Sexual offences 590 Robbery 342 Burglary 7,576 Theft and handling 22,045 Fraud and forgery 4,272 Criminal damage 10,189 Drug offences...
John Denham: The powers of the Home Secretary to set police establishment levels for each force were removed under the Police and Magistrates Courts Act 1994. It is for the chief officer to determine staffing levels within the overall resources available. I have been informed by the Chief Constable that the establishment level set by the force, and the actual numbers of officers serving in West Kent and...
John Denham: West Yorkshire police arrested five people and charged two for public order offences and one for assault in connection with the match at Headingley. Inquiries are continuing in respect of the attack on a steward. Nottinghamshire police arrested six people and charged four for public order offences in connection with the match at Trent Bridge.
John Denham: Best Value Performance Indicator (BVPI) 131 measures the throughput and quality of files from the police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). BVPI 131 was included in the suite for 2000-01 and 2001-02 to measure the police contribution to timely and effective processing of prosecution files. Initial consultation with partners on the BVPIs for 2002-03 has recently ended, and the Association...
John Denham: The Standards Unit will drive up performance and ensure that best practice is applied throughout England and Wales. It will draw on the work of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and engage directly with police at the local level. Plans for the Unit are being worked up as a priority. Operational matters will remain the responsibility of Chief Officers.
John Denham: I will be considering a range of issues relating to police pension arrangements in the coming months.
John Denham: "Criminal Justice: The Way Ahead", presented to Parliament in February by my right hon. Friend the then Home Secretary, said that where there are gaps which cannot be filled by experience or potential within the service, then there should be opportunities to recruit people with relevant specialist skills in other fields whether from the private or public sector. We are discussing with the...
John Denham: We plan to bring section 46 into force on 1 September, and sections 38, 71 and 72 on 1 October. Prior to implementation we shall issue guidance to the police, courts and other agencies who will be involved in the implementation of those provisions. We will announce our plans for implementation of other parts of the Act in due course.
John Denham: Private security personnel contributing to public safety remain accountable to their employers. They are not directly managed by, nor accountable to, the relevant chief police officer, although there is scope for their activities to be co-ordinated with police work.
John Denham: The Government's strategy for reforming the criminal justice system is set out in "Criminal Justice: The Way Ahead", presented to Parliament in February by my right hon. Friend the then Home Secretary. This makes reference to possible changes to police working conditions. We are currently discussing with the police service how to tackle these and other issues.
John Denham: The Government have made available substantial resources for directly tackling the problem of drug misuse. These are planned to increase from £700 million in 2000-01 to over £1 billion in 2003-04. Information held centrally relates to the four main aims of the national anti-drugs strategy. Analyses by Department or function are difficult to calculate because drugs spending in many cases...
John Denham: The review of ports policing presently being conducted by the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions is due to report its findings in October 2001. Until the recommendations of the Review are published I am unable to comment on whether they will impact on preparation of the proposed Police Bill.
John Denham: Both the police and local authorities have powers under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to direct travellers or other trespassers to leave land when the appropriate statutory requirements are met. We have no plans to amend this legislation at present although its effectiveness is kept under review.
John Denham: holding answer 25 June 2001 There are no plans for a European Police Force. A concrete target for European Union policing capabilities in the context of civilian crisis management was agreed at last year's Feira European Council. In the event of the European Union carrying out a civilian policing operation, the United Kingdom would not be obliged to contribute any police officers, but would...
John Denham: holding answer 25 June 2001 The proportion of each police force net expenditure attributable to net pension costs for the last five years is given in the table. Projections by police authorities of future pension costs were taken fully into account in provisions made in Spending Review 2000. Police authority net pension costs as a percentage of net expenditure, 1996-97 to 2000-01 --...
John Denham: holding answer 25 June 2001 Private security personnel, working alongside the police in providing greater public reassurance, will: "not generally have the power of the constable" ("Criminal Justice: The Way Ahead" (Cm 5074) para. 3.159). Statutory provisions relating to harbours, docks and public parks allow supervisory staff to be sworn as constables, but there are no plans to give private...
John Denham: Under the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) recruitment initiative, Hertfordshire constabulary has been allocated a total of 107 additional officers, over and above the force's previous recruitment plans for the three years to March 2003. I know that the force has been experiencing difficulty in attracting recruits and was not able to recruit any of its CFF allocation in 2000–01. In recognition of...
John Denham: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced the most recent police numbers on 28 June. On 31 March 2001, police numbers in England and Wales were 125,519. This is an increase of 1,349 over 31 March last year. It is a clear indication that the Crime Fighting Fund which is intended to deliver an additional 9,000 recruits over three years is taking effect . We expect that within the...
John Denham: The Home Secretary announced the most recent police numbers on 28 June. At 31 March 2001, police numbers in North Yorkshire were 1,305. This is an increase of 22 over March 2000.
John Denham: The information requested has been provided by the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and is set out in the table. I am told by the Commissioner that he has increased the Budgeted Workforce Total for police officers in Harrow from 295 officers in 2000–01 to 311 for the current financial year. Metropolitan police—Harrow division Year(10) Police officers(11) Civilian staff (11)...