Cleveland Police (Hansard, 2 November 1999)

§ Dr. Kumar
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 23 March 1999,Official Report, column 173, on the Lancet inquiry, what is the name of the base from which the inquiry is being carried out; what is the breakdown of the costs of using these premises and if these costs were included in the costs given in his answer; and if he will make a statement. [96393]

§ Mr. Charles Clarke
The Lancet inquiry is being run from rented premises acquired for the purpose. The cost of these premises is £2,623 per month. These costs were included in the costs of the inquiry given in a reply to my hon. Friend by my right hon. Friend the Member for118W Brent, South (Mr. Boateng), 23 March 1999, Official Report, column 173, For operational reasons, it would not be appropriate to state the location of the premises.

§ Dr. Kumar
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 20 April 1999,Official Report 1999, column 484, on Cleveland Police, what proportion of serving CID officers in Cleveland Police Force are under investigation in the Lancet inquiry in the boroughs of (a) Middlesbrough, (b) Stockton, (c) Langbaurgh and (d) Hartlepool; and if he will make a statement. [96394]

§ Mr. Charles Clarke
Operation Lancet is currently investigating 30 Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers. Eight of these are suspended from duty. The remaining 22 officers are currently serving as follows:

(a) 11 at Middlesbrough out of a total strength of 39 CID officers;

(b) one at Stockton out of a total strength of 29 CID officers;

(c) seven at Langbaurgh out of a total strength of 17 CID officers;

(d) zero at Hartlepool; and

(e) three at Headquarters out of a total strength of 111 CID officers.

In a reply given to a question by my hon. Friend, by my right hon. Friend the Member for Brent, South (Mr. Boateng) on 20 April 1999, Official Report, column 484, he should have referred to six officers subject to investigation out of a total of 24 CID officers at Langbaurgh, rather than out of a total of 32 as stated. I am sorry that this mistake was not noticed earlier.

§ Dr. Kumar
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are working on the(a) Lancet and (b) Redwood inquiries into Cleveland Police; and if he will make a statement. [96272]

§ Mr. Charles Clarke
There are 17 officers from Cleveland and six officers from Northamptonshire currently working on Operation Lancet. For operational reasons, it would be inappropriate to comment on Operation Redwood.

§ Dr. Kumar
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 20 April 1999,Official Report, column 484, if he will make a statement on the progress of the Redwood inquiry into the Cleveland Police Force. [96395]

§ Mr. Charles Clarke
The Redwood inquiry is an on-going investigation and, for operational reasons, it would be inappropriate at this stage to make any further comment.

§ Dr. Kumar
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in Cleveland have been served with a regulation 7 disciplinary notice in connection with Operation Lancet. [96678]

§ Mr. Charles Clarke
Sixty officers in Cleveland Police have been served with a regulation 7 notice arising from Operation Lancet.