HC Deb 15 July 2003 vol 409 cc267-8W
Mark Tami

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice he has issued to chief constables on the(a) recruitment and (b) use of community support officers. [122882]

Ms Blears

The recruitment and deployment of community support officers (CSOs) is a matter for chief officers. In December 2002 the Home Office issued a "Frequently Asked Questions" document which gave some advice on these issues. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has also published a more detailed guidance document on CSOs, with material on both recruitment and deployment. This guidance is available to chief officers on the ACPO intranet site.

Mr. Best

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of community support officers. [125107]

Ms Blears

The 27 forces who received first round Community Support Officer (CSO) funding are required to carry out a formal evaluation of their schemes. I expect to receive their initial findings by the end of September. In addition to this I have already received a significant amount of informal evidence, such

Consultation papers launched in 2001
Title Number of responses Available figures for cost (£)
Animal Procedures—review of the Ethical Review Process 139 35,000
Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000—New Laws for a successful Multi-Racial Britain 302 30,000
Review of the victims Charter n/a n/a
The Law on Extradition: a review 15 82,000
Animal Rights Extremism: Government Strategy: A Consultation 55 n/a
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 A consultation leaflet 95 2,155
Guidance for the use of an Intermediary under s.29 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 86 80,617
Funding Community Groups: a consultation document 235 3,742
The Halliday Report—Making punishments work 305 75,000
Consultation of use of X/Gamma Radiation Scanner. n/a n/a
Extension of Civil Penalties to Freight Shuttle Wagons n/a n/a
Consultation Paper on the Review of Part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 46 50,000 plus
Accessing Communications data—draft code of practice n/a n/a
Police and Criminal Evidence Act—Code F 10 n/a
Ratification of the Driving Disqualification Convention 46 n/a
Review of Family Visitors Appeals n/a n/a

as letters from members of the public, indicating that CSOs have been a great success in combating low level crime and reassuring the public.