§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of general calls to the force switchboard were not answered within 20 seconds in each police force in England in each year from 1990–91 to 2001–02, ranked from best to worst performance for the most recent year for which information is available; and if he will make a statement. [66884]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 8 July 2002]: The information requested is not collected centrally, and I understand that forces do not routinely measure how long it takes to answer calls to their general switchboards. Times for answering 999 calls are collected and this information has been provided in response to a separate question.
§ Keith VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken since 7 June 2001 to ensure that vacancies for the post of chief constable are advertised as quickly as possible. [66334]
§ Mr. DenhamIn April 2001, we established the Senior Appointments Panel, chaired by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, to offer advice on the approval 1067W of chief officer candidates and to assist police authorities in the co-ordination and timetabling of the appointments process.
Work is currently under way to develop detailed guidance for police authorities on the recruitment and selection of chief officers, drawn up in close consultation with key stakeholders. That will replace the current guidance in Home Office Circular 52–96. The new guidance will set out a wide range of best practice on all aspects of chief officer recruitment and selection procedures, including the setting of an appropriate timetable for key steps in the process at the point a vacancy arises.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money was spent by the relevant pension fund on paying pensions to retired members of the police force in 2001–02; if he will estimate the corresponding amounts to be spent in(a) five years' time, (b) 10 years' time, (c) 20 years' time and (d) 30 years' time; if he will estimate in each case the proportion of such liabilities which will arise from (i) unfunded pension schemes and (ii) pre-funded pension schemes; and in the case of pre-funded schemes; if he will estimate the value of the corresponding pre-funded funds in each of these years. [66560]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Police Pension Scheme is an unfunded scheme. The cost of police pensions in England and Wales in 2001–02 is estimated at £1.1 billion. Estimated costs to individual police authorities in 2001–02 are set out in the table. No projections of police pensions' costs in five, 10, 20 and 30 years' time are available. These are matters for individual police authorities.
As we made clear in the White Paper 'Policing a New Century: A Blueprint for Reform', we are aware of the need of police authorities and chief officers for a system which brings greater clarity about pensions obligations on individual police authorities. With the Treasury we are examining the options for a revised system of funding which would bring this about.
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Net pensions expenditure Force £000 Avon and Somerset Police 31,585 Bedfordshire Police 9,078 Cambridgeshire Police 10,674 Cheshire Police 16,599 City of London 9,578 Cleveland Police 13,478 Cumbria Police 10,765 Derbyshire Police 14,473 Devon and Cornwall Police 28,313 Dorset Police 12,728 Durham Police 10,991 Dyfed Powys 8,435 Essex Police 25,211 Gloucestershire Police 10,301 Greater Manchester Police 66,792 Gwent Police Authority 9,621 Hampshire Police 24,537 Hertfordshire Police 12,308 Humberside Police 18,572 Kent Police 26,759 Lancashire Police 28,568 Leicestershire Police 14,706 Lincolnshire Police 12,820 Merseyside Police 43,542
Net pensions expenditure Force £000 Metropolitan Police (GLA) 254,767 Norfolk Police 12,354 North Wales 13,249 North Yorkshire Police 14,757 Northamptonshire Police 8,484 Northumbria Police 32,794 Nottinghamshire Police 21,457 South Wales 30,169 South Yorkshire Police 22,805 Staffordshire Police 22,866 Suffolk Police 11,130 Surrey Police 11,605 Sussex Police 29,312 Thames Valley Police 24,971 Warwickshire Police 10,300 West Mercia Police 18,183 West Midlands Police 51,133 West Yorkshire Police 47,066 Wiltshire Police 9,272 Total 1,117,108 Source:
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Police Statistics 2001–02 (Estimates)
§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police vehicles were involved in road accidents resulting in(a) slight injuries, (b) serious injuries and (c) fatal accidents in the last five years. [65786]
§ Mr. DenhamThe available information is set out in table and relates to the number of injuries and deaths involving police vehicles engaged in immediate/ emergency response or pursuit only.
Deaths Serious injury Slight injury 1997–98 15 200 1,923 1998–99 11 210 1,653 1999–2000 14 115 1,645 2000–01 19 163 1,973 2001–02 24 168 1,768 Notes:
(i) The information has been provided by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), to which forces submit statistical returns.
(ii) Data are missing from one force in 1998–99 and 1999–2000; and from two forces 2000–01.
(iii) All figures are for financial year.
(iv) The figures are numbers of deaths/injuries, not numbers of accidents.
(v) The figures include both police and civilian casualties.
(vi) The figures for 2001–02 are provisional only. Data are missing from four forces.
§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police vehicles committed traffic violations and what was the(a) nature of these violations and (b) number of prosecutions arising from them in the last 12 months. [65758]
§ Mr. DenhamThe information is not collected centrally.
§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many guns each police force possesses, broken down by type; how many officers each force has trained in the use of guns, broken down by rank; 1069W and how many incidents there have been in each force in which guns have been used by officers in each of the last five years; and how many fatalities have resulted. [65641]
§ Mr. DenhamInformation on the numbers and types of firearms held by each force, and details of the ranks of authorised firearms officers, is not held centrally. The collection of this information could only be done at disproportionate cost.
I have attached the most recently published figures on the number of authorised firearms officers and also on operations in which firearms were issued. The number of persons shot by police over the same period and the number of those whose wounds were fatal, are also attached.
Number of operations in which firearms were issued 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 Total 12,379 11,842 10,928 10,915 Avon and Somerset 312 139 88 90 Bedfordshire 345 323 260 190 Cambridgeshire 54 96 43 75 Cheshire 288 216 299 386 Cleveland 1,026 103 35 76 City of London 308 307 147 125 Cumbria 72 68 52 24 Derbyshire 109 147 176 178 Devon and Cornwall 160 133 61 65 Dorset 36 54 69 79 Durham 131 103 114 114 Essex 331 505 590 497 Gloucestershire 41 51 52 52 Greater Manchester 214 165 160 224 Hampshire 245 217 129 103 Hertfordshire 96 82 75 73 Humberside 291 472 317 193 Kent 236 423 92 85 Lancashire 333 338 616 267 Leicestershire 155 89 109 222 Lincolnshire 58 52 57 155 Merseyside 671 675 484 489 Metropolitan 2,439 2,578 2,742 2,862 Norfolk 166 128 185 239 Northamptonshire 64 77 51 57 Northumbria 1,360 823 683 465 North Yorkshire 65 102 69 61 Nottinghamshire 84 306 266 255 South Yorkshire 155 302 135 237 Staffordshire 257 240 209 174 Suffolk 180 193 174 165 Surrey 133 87 60 143 Sussex 235 330 123 185 Thames Valley 215 227 158 110 Warwickshire 97 152 291 194 West Mercia 106 132 130 110 West Midlands 270 227 305 362 West Yorkshire 617 630 662 813 Wiltshire 26 26 24 19 Dyfed-Powys 17 27 38 37 Gwent 89 86 64 39 North Wales 233 310 386 371 South Wales 59 101 148 255
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Number of authorised firearms officers (AFOs) 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 Total 6,738 6,585 6,308 6,262 Avon and Somerset 165 161 153 150 Bedfordshire 46 42 50 46 Cambridgeshire 90 80 80 77 Cheshire 70 82 70 75
Number of authorised firearms officers (AFOs) 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 Cleveland 86 84 78 80 City of London 88 81 55 73 Cumbria 108 122 98 98 Derbyshire 110 100 87 77 Devon and Cornwall 151 147 82 119 Dorset 74 72 72 66 Durham 138 144 96 101 Essex 228 217 235 228 Gloucestershire 82 84 79 77 Greater Manchester 209 182 217 218 Hampshire 106 112 110 111 Hertfordshire 42 41 43 52 Humberside 90 102 102 97 Kent 150 150 130 136 Lancashire 132 125 132 143 Leicestershire 104 94 90 90 Lincolnshire 82 85 75 78 Merseyside 147 165 121 96 Metropolitan 2,035 1,971 1,951 1,977 Norfolk 98 102 109 110 Northamptonshire 92 92 92 75 Northumbria 173 126 123 114 North Yorkshire 108 95 83 59 Nottinghamshire 128 129 120 116 South Yorkshire 110 108 90 100 Staffordshire 78 86 92 81 Suffolk 82 96 101 98 Surrey 76 61 69 71 Sussex 180 146 156 131 Thames Valley 185 194 179 187 Warwickshire 41 38 44 54 West Mercia 155 159 139 129 West Midlands 88 95 92 93 West Yorkshire 131 114 128 110 Wiltshire 134 105 88 89 Dyfed-Powys 70 71 67 65 Gwent 70 59 64 68 North Wales 72 90 97 92 South Wales 134 176 169 155
Persons shot by police Fatally wounded 1997 1 — 1998 5 2 1999 7 3 2000 6 2
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) policemen and (b) police women there were in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2001; and if he will make a statement. [66468]
§ Mr. DenhamAt 30 September 1997 there were 107,505 full-time equivalent male police officers and 19,357 full-time equivalent female police officers in England and Wales.
At 30 September 2001 there were 105,136 full-time equivalent male police officers and 22,094 full-time equivalent female police officers in England and Wales.
We have reversed the long-term decline in police strength. Police officer numbers had reached a record number by the end of January 2002. We are on track for our target of 130,000 officers by spring 2003.
The proportion of female officers has risen from 15 per cent. to 17 per cent., and raising the representation of women in the Police Service is an area we are continuing to address.
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§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines are issued to police forces regarding(a) colour blindness tests for recruits and (b) the standards which recruits must attain to be accepted. [66465]
§ Mr. DenhamGuidelines issued by the Home Office (Home Office Circular 7/98) state that candidates for the police service need to be able to pass the City University Colour Vision Test and achieve 7/10 of the plates to pass.
The Home Office are currently funding research to develop new job related medical and eyesight standards. The research includes whether there is a continuing need for a colour vision requirement. Draft recommendations on eyesight requirements are due shortly. These will be discussed with The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and police interest groups and are expected to be introduced later this year. All forces will be expected to apply the new standards consistently.
§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish his review of police pension arrangements. [65633]
§ Mr. DenhamAs we stated in our White Paper "Policing a New Century: A Blueprint for Reform", we are looking at ways of modernising police pensions to make them more flexible and affordable for future entrants and to reflect modern lifestyle patterns. This is a complex area, which needs careful consideration.
§ Mr. CummingsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) arrests and (b) prosecutions there were in the Peterlee Sub Division for (i) use of illegal substances, (ii) possession of illegal substances and (iii) the dealing in illegal substances in (a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001. [65586]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthThe available information, relating to illegal drugs, is as follows.
Persons1proceeded against in the Easington petty sessional area for the possession of and dealing in a controlled drug, 1999 and 2000 Easington petty sessional area Possession of a controlled drug 1999 21 2000 61 Dealing in a controlled drug2 1999 21 2000 61 1Persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. 2Includes offences of importation/exportation, production, supplying, possession with intent to supply etc. The number of arrests within the Peterlee Sub Division of Durham Constabulary are not available centrally. The `use' of illegal drugs is not an offence.
Statistics for 2001 will be available in the autumn.
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on improving public access to police stations in local communities; and if he will make a statement. [62291]
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§ Mr. DenhamThe management of police property and allocation of resources are matters for each police authority and the chief officer who are best placed to assess local needs for the policing plan and local operational priorities, taking local opinion into account.
In guidance issued in 2001 we made it a requirement for police authorities to include in their annual policing/best value performance plans details of any police stations which have opened or closed in the previous financial year.