§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost of paying police pensions was in each of the last five years; and what proportion of that cost was met by(a) contributions and (b) Treasury subvention. [4811]
§ Mr. DenhamThe total cost of paying police pensions for each of the last five years is set out in the table. Police officers pay pension contributions of 11 per cent. of salary at present. The pension scheme is operated on pay-as-you-go' terms. Officers' contributions comprise about 26 per cent. of the gross cost of pensions paid each year.
The balance of cost is met from each police authority's police account. This is funded mainly from central grants and council tax precepts.
£000 Year Net pensions expenditure 1996–97 749,003 1997–98 874,897 1998–99 900,643 1999–2000 948,000 2000–01 1,029,454 Source:
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Actuals 1996–97 to 1999–2000 and Estimates for 2000/01
§ Miss WiddecombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to reform police pension arrangements; and if he will make a statement. [5779]
§ Mr. DenhamI refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 25 June 2001,Official Report, column 48W.
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Prison Service will introduce a key performance indicator on reducing reoffending rates; and if he will make a statement. [4842]
§ Beverley HughesThe Prison Service is committed to reducing the rates of reoffending by prisoners on release. Because data on reoffending rates rely on self-reporting by offenders, reconviction rates are the best proxy measure. The Home Office published a new Public Service Agreement on 3 November 2000 which sets a joint target for the Prison and Probation Services to reduce by 2004 the rate of reconvictions of all offenders punished by imprisonment or by community supervision by 5 per cent. compared to the predicted rate. Because the660W reconviction data do not become available for over two years after the offender's release, the Key Performance Indicators for the Prison Service (the management tool for delivering this target) are based on delivering the annual outputs (educational qualifications, accredited offending behaviour programmes, and reducing drug use) which evidence shows will reduce the level of reconvictions.