§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his Department's policy towards the use of police officers to encourage or in any way induce offences to be committed under section 32 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956.
§ Mr. Peter LloydMeasures to detect crime are operational matters for chief officers of police. However, the Home Office has issued guidance to all police forces which stresses that police officers must not incite the commission of offences.
§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has as to the incidence of police officers encouraging or inducing offences to be committed under section 32 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956.
§ Mr. Peter LloydInformation of methods of detection for offences committed under section 32 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 is not collected centrally.
§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the financial cost incurred by the deployment of a single police officer in surveillance of a public toilet for one day.
§ Mr. Peter LloydAvailable figures on the cost of police officers' time are not related to the duties on which they are engaged; additional costs are not normally incurred by the deployment of officers on particular duties.
§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines have been issued relating to police operations applied to the entrapment of homosexual men for soliciting.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe Home Office has issued guidance to all police forces which stresses that police officers must not incite the commission of criminal offences. Instructions relating to particular police operations against suspected indecency are a matter for individual chief officers.