§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What expenditure has been incurred in each year so far under the War Crimes Act 1991 in pursuing alleged war criminals; and what police manpower is currently engaged on the inquiries. [HL1884]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonThe Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit was established in 1991 to carry out investigations under the War Crimes Act 1991 in England and Wales. It was disbanded in 1999 because all allegations at that time had been investigated. However, three police officers at the Metropolitan Police continue to work on war crimes inquiries as they arise.
The investigation of crime in Scotland is a matter within the competency of the Scottish Parliament and it would therefore not be appropriate to comment further on this question in relation to Scotland.
Expenditure incurred by the Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police in pursuing alleged war criminals is shown in the table below. Police expenditure since 1999 has been met from normal budgets and no figures are centrally available since that time.
78WA
Police CPS 1991–92 £850,600 £6,662 1992–93 £1,260,000 £384,190 1993–94 £1,485,000 £416,341
Police CPS 1994–95 *£500,000 £433,76,5 1995–96 £877,192 £552,194 1996–97 £648,922 £748,516 1997–98 £560,983 £213,920 1998–99 £255,600 £576,847 1999–2000 — £173,983 2001–01 — £3,163 * Estimate.