§ Lord Dubsasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the level of the United Kingdom's civilian policing commitment to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). [HL1609]
§ The Minister for Trade (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)The UK currently contributes 140 civilian police officers, mainly on secondment from the Police Service for Northern Ireland and the Ministry of Defence Police, to UNMIK's international civilian police force. These officers are engaged in both
Resources. Capital Change New DEL Of Which Voted Non-voted Change New DEL Of Which Voted Non-voted £22,476,000 £429,814,000 £419,258,000 £10,556,000 £2,899,000 £21,649,000 £21,649,000 — The Crown Prosecution Service DEL will be increased by £23,797,000 from £391,096,000 to £414,893,000 and the administration costs limit will be increased by £21,747,000 from £275,227,000 to £296,974,000. The increase in the resource element of the DEL arises from speeding up the reform of the CPS to allow it to contribute fully to criminal justice targets and implementation of Section 37 of the Vehicles (Crime) Reduction Act 2001. The decrease results from a transfer of £83,000 for work taken over by the Insolvency Service under Section 218, Insolvency Act 1986. The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from an increase of £1,750,000 to fund the introduction of joint CPS/police criminal justice and trial units and £300,000 to fund the provision of digital certificates for the secure transmission of case information.
44WAoperational duties to maintain civil law and order in Kosovo and in duties related to the work of UNMIK's Criminal Investigation Unit in Pristina. UNMIK police officers, including those seconded from the UK, played a key role in ensuring that the Kosovo elections on 17 November were conducted peacefully.
On 6 December the UK will deploy 18 recently retired British police officers to Kosovo. The secondment of recently retired British police officers is a new initiative and will increase our commitment in Kosovo to 158 officers. This figure excludes Mr Chris Albiston, the Police Commissioner in Kosovo, who is a serving assistant chief constable on secondment from the Police Service for Northern Ireland. If this initial deployment of retired police officers proves successful, there might be scope for the deployment of increased numbers of retired policemen to peacekeeping duties with the UN in Kosovo and elsewhere.