§ Mr. McWalterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many ex-police officers are being paid a pension because of early retirement through ill health; and what monitoring systems are in place to ensure that the ill health is not transient. [134543]
§ Ms BlearsThe requested figures are not centrally available. However the number of ill-health retirements within the police service has been falling over recent years from a level of 14.8 per 1,000 officer strength in 1997–98 to 8.8 per 1,000 in 2001–02.
Regulation K1 of the Police Pension Regulations 1987 gives the police authority the discretion to review whether the disablement of a person in receipt of a police ill-health pension has ceased. Such reviews can be held at intervals that the authority considers appropriate. We would expect police authorities to continue to review the circumstances in any case where it was felt that there was a reasonable prospect for the cessation of disablement and that the former officer could be re-engaged.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been killed in each of the last five years by the police(a) during police action, (b) as a result of police pursuits and (c) in police custody. [134728]
§ Ms BlearsIn each of the last five years, for which Home Office figures have been published, the total number of people who died during or following police action are as follows. 445W
- 1997–1998—69
- 1998–1999—67
- 1999–2000—70
- 2000–2001—52
- 2001–2002—70
Within those totals:
1997–98
Eleven died during or following police pursuits and 40 died in or following police custody.
1998–99
Four died during or following police pursuits and 41 died in or following police custody.
1999–2000
Ninteen died during or following police pursuits and 30 died in or following police custody.
2000–01
Seventeen died during or following police pursuits and 25 died in or following police custody.
2001–02
Thirty died during or following police pursuits and 22 died in or following police custody.
§ John MannTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) police officers and (b) crimes committed there were in police authority areas in England in the last year for which figures are available. [135320]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 30 October 2000]: The latest published information on the number of police officers by police force area in England is published in Table 1 of 'Police Service Strength, England and Wales, 31 March 2003' (Home Office Statistical Bulletin 11/03).
The latest published information on the number of crimes recorded in each police force area in England is contained in Table 6.04 of 'Crime in England and Wales 2002/03' (Home Office Statistical Bulletin 07/03).
Copies of both publications are available in the Library.