Nuclear Installations (Policing) (Hansard, 22 July 2002)

§ Ms Shipley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the cost of policing nuclear sites from terrorist attacks for the years(a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001 and (d) 2002. [70891]

§ Mr. Wilson
I have been asked to reply.
The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary's annual reports provide overall outturn for financial years 1999–2000 and 2000–01 which were £20.6 million and £21.2 million respectively. The annual report for 2001–02 has not yet been published. The figures are not broken down since the Constabulary's responsibilities include protecting material and sites from theft and sabotage.

§ Ms Shipley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the costs of his proposals to create a civil nuclear constabulary. [70892]

§ Mr. Wilson
I have been asked to reply.
As affirmed in the White Paper "Managing the Nuclear Legacy" the Government intend to separate the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary from the UKAEA and reconstitute it as a stand-alone force, overseen by a statutory Police Authority, in order to make it independent of the nuclear industry and provide improved governance arrangements. The constabulary's role, which has remained broadly unchanged since its inception in 1954, is to protect specified nuclear sites and escort sensitive nuclear material in transit. It is not envisaged that reconstitution will affect its size, role or the locations where it serves.
Estimates of the costs associated with setting up and operating the constabulary as a standalone force are included in the report of the quinquennial review of the UKAEA which was placed in the Libraries of the House in November 2001. The estimated costs comprise (at 2000–01 levels): Additional running costs—£170,000 per annum. One-off costs on separation from UKAEA, including new hardware/software for finance/payroll management, legal and financial advice (including setting up a transfer scheme), project management support, transitional recruitment and training costs and rebadging—£1,120,000.