§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 21 November 2000,Official Report, column 150W, concerning the Hi-tech Crime Unit, what assessment he has made of the level of resources allocated by each constabulary to its local police computer crime unit; and how many constabularies (a) have established such a unit, (b) plan to establish such a unit and (c) have no plans for such a unit. [140221]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeI understand that, of the 43 police forces in England and 40 have at least one person Wales, (not always full-time) working in the field of forensic computing. Of the three which do not, I understand that one may be about to allocate resources to this field. I understand that in total there are 75 police personnel engaged in these duties in England and Wales. As my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced on 13 November 2000,Official Report, column 531W, we are making £25 million available to the police over the next three years to enhance their capability to investigate crimes where new technology is used.