§ Mr. SedgemoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints against the police in England and Wales, including the Metropolitan police, were completed, whether formally or informally, in each of the last four years for which figures are available; of those how many were substantiated and how many were unsubstantiated; how many were informally resolved and how many were withdrawn or not proceeded with: and of those complaints that were substantiated, how many resulted in criminal charges being brought, how many resulted in disciplinary charges being brought and how many resulted in advice being given.
§ Mr. Peter LloydInformation relating to the numbers of complaints completed, and how many of these were substantiated, unsubstantiated, informally resolved and withdrawn or not proceeded with, are given in the annual reports of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, for all forces in England and Wales other than the Metropolitan police. Figures are also given in the reports in relation to complaints which resulted in criminal charges, disciplinary charges, or were dealt with by other means.
The annual reports of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis show corresponding figures up to and including the year 1987. Information in relation to complaints substantiated, unsubstantiated, informally resolved and withdrawn or not proceeded with is not given in the Commissioner's reports for 1988 and 1989 owing to a change of format, and is as follows:
1988 1989 Substantiated 184 103 Unsubstantiated 2,308 1,906 Informally resolved 1,121 1,207 Withdrawn or not proceeded with (including those where dispensations were granted by the Police Complaints Authority or which were trivial or ill-founded) 3,321 3,657 TOTAL 6,934 6,873 Copies of all these reports can be found in the Library.
§ Mr. SedgemoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list separately for each of the last four years for which figures are available the number of charges of which officers in England and Wales were convicted arising from(a) complaints and (b) other information in each of the offence groups (i) violence against the person, (ii) sexual offences, (iii) burglary, (iv) robbery, (v) theft and handling stolen goods, (vi) fraud 452W and forgery, (vii) criminal damage, (viii) perjury, (ix) corruption, (x) other indictable offences, (xi) assault, (xii) other offences (not traffic) and (xiii) traffic offences.
§ Mr. Peter LloydInformation relating to the numbers of officers convicted of criminal offences, to whether the investigation arose from a complaint or from other circumstances, and whether the charge was in respect of a traffic offence or a non-traffic offence, is published annually in the reports of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, for all forces in England and Wales other than the Metropolitan police, and of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. More detailed information on the types of offences involved is not available.
§ Mr. SedgemoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each year since 1985 the number of complaints against the police completed in England and Wales in which racially discriminatory behaviour was alleged; how many of those were substantiated and how many were unsubstantiated; how many were informally resolved; of those that were substantiated, how many resulted in a disciplinary charge being preferred; what was the outcome of such charge; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe available information is as follows:
Number of complaints 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Recorded1 83 197 180 220 202 Formally investigated 57 142 131 127 135 Substantiated 0 4 4 5 4 Unsubstantiated 57 138 127 122 131 1 Does not include complaints which were recorded but subsequently withdrawn. Information relating to any subsequent disciplinary proceedings or to the number of complaints informally resolved is not held centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. SedgemoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all those authorities which maintain bodies of constables, other than police authorities, which have concluded agreements with the Police Complaints Authority for the establishment of procedures corresponding to those established by part IX of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and which he has approved, pursuant to section 96 of that Act; and if he will list separately those authorities which maintain bodies of constables which have not concluded such agreements.
§ Mr. Peter LloydAgreements under section 96 of the 1984 Act have been approved in respect of the Ministry of Defence police, the British transport police, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority police, the Port of London Authority police and Port of Liverpool police. There are 22 other private police forces of which I am aware which do not have such agreements.
The 22 forces—the list is not exhaustive—are as follows:
- Port of Bristol Police
- Dover Harbour Board Police
- Falmouth Dock Police
- Port of Felixstowe Police
- Manchester Dock Police
453 - Milford Docks Police
- Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority Police
- Great Yarmouth Port and Haven Commissions River Inspectorate
- Royal Parks Constabulary
- Royal Botanic Gardens Constabulary
- Birmingham Parks Patrol
- City of Manchester Recreational Services Departmental Police
- Barnet Dog Handlers
- Wirral Parks Police
- Brighton Parks Police
- Brent Parks Police
- Wandsworth Parks Constabulary
- Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority, Mersey Tunnels Law Enforcement
- Tower of London Yeoman Warders
- Cambridge University Constables
- Oxford University Constables
- Epping Forest Rangers
§ Mr. SedgemoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each year from 1985 the numbers of Metropolitan police officers who were charged with disciplinary offences following a successful civil action against the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis for a wrongful act by an officer; and, in respect of each charge, whether the offence was proved and what punishment was imposed.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThis information is not kept nationally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. SedgemoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list separately for each of the last four years for which figures are available the number of police officers in England and Wales who(a) resigned after criminal charges had been preferred against them but before such proceedings were completed, (b) resigned after disciplinary charges had been preferred against them but before such proceedings had been completed, (c) were under suspension at the time of their resignation and (d) resigned while under investigation for disciplinary matters.
§ Mr. Peter LloydInformation relating to the numbers of officers who resigned after disciplinary criminal charges had been preferred against them but before the proceedings had been completed, the numbers of officers who resigned while under investigation, and the number of officers who were permitted to resign while under suspension, are given in the annual reports of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, for all forces in England and Wales other than the Metropolitan police. Equivalent information in relation to Metropolitan police officers is contained in the annual reports of the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, except that figures relating to officers who resigned before criminal proceedings against them were completed, or while they were under investigation for criminal matters are available only up to and including the year 1987. The information for later years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.