§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made in the implementation of the recommendations of the Speed review of the Royal Parks Police; and if she will make a statement. [129784]
§ Mr. CabornAll 23 main recommendations of the Speed inspection of the Royal Parks Constabulary (RPC) have been implemented, apart from those relating to the merger with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).
Agreement in principle on the merger was reached in July with the MPS and the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) to merge the RPC with the MPS to create a separate Royal Parks Operational Command Unit (OCU) within the MPS.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many officers were employed in the Royal Parks Constabulary in each of the last five years. [129785]
§ Mr. CabornThe information is as follows.
650W
As at 31 March Officers 1999 158 2000 154 2001 155 2002 148 2003 146
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment she has made of the morale of the Royal Parks Constabulary. [129786]
§ Mr. CabornA change of this magnitude is bound to cause concern among staff. This is an unusual situation and it takes time to find out exactly what is involved and how it can be achieved. During this period there is not much concrete information we can tell staff and I understand how the lack of information can lead to uncertainty which is bound to affect morale. I can only assure RPC officers that Ministers from this Department and the Home Office are working to resolve outstanding issues so that the details can be made available to them and this unfortunate period of uncertainty brought to an end.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her policy is on security of tenure of their homes for Officers of the Royal Parks Constabulary, in the event of a merger with the Metropolitan Police. [129787]
§ Mr. CabornThe Royal Parks will do what it can to ensure that Royal Parks Constabulary (RPC) officers currently living in Royal Parks accommodation will not be disadvantaged by the merger with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects the merger of the Metropolitan Police with the Royal Parks Constabulary to take place. [129788]
§ Mr. CabornThe aim is that the Royal Parks Occupational Command Unit should start on 1 April 2004 but this is conditional on resolving funding issues and obtaining the necessary enabling legislation.