§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many accidents involving police vehicles took place in each London borough in 2003. [160209]
§ Caroline FlintInformation on the number of police vehicle accidents broken down by individual London boroughs is not collected centrally.
The Metropolitan Police Service does, however, record collisions involving police vehicles and the table attached has been provided by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
§ Phil SawfordTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in England and Wales in(a) May 1993 and (b) May 1997. [161677]
§ Ms BlearsOn 30 May 1993 there were 127,969 police officers in England and Wales. Between April 1995 and March 2002 police strength was collected only twice a year (March and September) In March 1997 police strength had decreased to 127,158.
There were 49,554 police (support) staff in May 1993. This had increased to 53,011 by March 1997.
§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the reasons for requiring the returns of police officer numbers from constabularies for the purpose of his recent announcement on a different basis to the normal quarterly and annual return provided to his office by constabularies; [161824]
350W(2) how many police officers there are per force on the basis of the normal quarterly and annual returns provided by constabularies to his Department. [161825]
§ Ms BlearsThe Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics Directorate collects, analyses and publishes a full and detailed breakdown of numbers of police officers and other police staff.
However given the substantial investment that this Government has made to increase police officer numbers, Ministers have, from time to time sought separate reports on progress being made on the delivery of our aim to increase strength and police visibility through the Crime Fighting Fund.
Reports were sought for January 2001, January 2002 and August 2003 and for December 2003. These reports are based on information which forces have readily to hand on how many police officers they currently employ and should not create a significant additional burden for forces.
The following table provides information on police officers strength on 30 September 2003, which was published on 2 March 2004.
351W
Police Officer strength as at 30 September 2003 Actual police office strength 1 All officers Avon and Somerset 3,328 3,273 Bedfordshire 1,164 1,147 Cambridgeshire 1,415 1,406 Cheshire 2,189 2,152 Cleveland 1,616 1,603 Cumbria 1,193 1,171 Derbyshire 2,061 2,049 Devon and Cornwall 3,286 3,259 Dorset 1,423 1,401 Durham 1,684 1,668 Essex 3,074 3,055 Gloucestershire 1,258 1,245 Greater Manchester 7,724 7,653 Hampshire 3,763 3,704 Hertfordshire 2,080 2,057 Humberside 2,188 2,170 Kent 3,539 3,538 Lancashire 3,512 3,475 Leicestershire 2,211 2,180 Lincolnshire 1,231 1,214 London, City of 815 813 Merseyside 4,149 4,129 Metropolitan Police 29,257 28,951 Norfolk 1,520 1,513 North Yorkshire 1,481 1,471 Northamptonshire 1,258 1,236 Northumbria 4,039 4,016 Nottinghamshire 2,455 2,438 South Yorkshire 3,222 3,193 Staffordshire 2,260 2,243 Suffolk 1,306 1,299 Surrey 1,977 1,960 Sussex 3,028 2,973 Thames Valley 4,049 3,982 Warwickshire 986 983 West Mercia 2,379 2,367 West Midlands 7,960 7,913 West Yorkshire 5,230 5,202 Wiltshire 1,242 1,236 Dyfed Powys 1,158 1,155 Gwent 1,347 1,340 North Wales 1,597 1,593 South Wales 3,286 3,256
Police Officer strength as at 30 September 2003 Actual police office strength 1All officers Total 43 forces 135,938 134,683 NCS 1,179 1,179 NCIS 262 262 Other secondments 673 673 Total 138,052 136,797 1 Less staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave (comparable with previously published figures)
§ Mr. RobathanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what his Department estimates would be the necessary increase in funding to Leicestershire Police Authority to rectify the current budget deficit; [155485]
(2) what assessment he has made of the current financial position of the Leicestershire Police Authority; and if he will make a statement; [155486]
(3) what assessment he has made of the funding shortfalls to police authorities in England and Wales. [155488]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 23 February 2004]: All police authorities in England and Wales will receive a 3.25 per cent. increase in general grants in 2004–05, above the police pay award increase of 3 per cent. and general inflation projections of 2.6 per cent.
The arrangement was made to ensure that all police authorities receive a reasonable increase. In addition, funding is provided for a range of targeted programmes and capital provision.
Leicestershire Police Authority will receive general grant funding of £102.0 million in 2004–05, an increase of £3.2 million. On top of this, it will receive over £10 million for targeted programmes and capital provision.
Leicestershire have set a final budget off £138.1 million for 2004–05, an increase of 6.1 per cent. over this year. The police authority's decision will have taken into account grant allocations.
§ Mr. RobathanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by how much in(a) percentage and (b) cash terms Leicestershire Police grant has increased in each year from 1997–98 to 2004–05. [155487]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 23 February 2004]The information is set out in the table.
352W
General government grants 1,2 Increase £ million £ million Percentage 1997–98 83.9 — — 1998–99 85.3 1.4 1.6 1999–00 87.9 2.6 3.0 2000–01 90.6 2.7 3.1 2001–02 94.6 4.0 4.4 2001–023 92.2 2002–03 94.5 2.3 2.5 2003–04 98.8 4.3 4.5 2004–05 102.0 3.2 3.3 1 General Government Grants comprise Home Office police grant, ODPM Revenue Support Grant and National Non-Domestic Rates.
2In addition to general grants, Leicestershire benefited from funding from the Crime Fighting Fund, Rural Policing Fund, Basic Command Unit funding, Community Support Officer funding, Special Priority Payments, Airwave, the DNA Expansion Programme, capital grant (excluding Supplementary Credit Approvals) and the Premises Improvement Fund. £0.9 million in 1997–98, £0.8 million in 1998–99, £1.1 million in 1999–2000,£2.0 million 2000–01, £8.4 million in 2001–02, £6.3 million in 2002–03, [...]8.5 million in 2003–04 and an estimated £8.8 million in 2004–05. 3Figures for 2001–02 are not directly comparable with 2002–03 due to the change in the funding arrangements of NCS and NCIS. Adjusted figures for 2001–02 are therefore included in the table.
§ Mr. GoodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether revenues raised from speed cameras were included in the calculation of the Thames Valley police budget for(a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04. [160652]
§ Caroline FlintRevenue raised from speed cameras is not taken into account in the setting of Police grant or local budgets
Fines and fixed penalties for speeding offences, like those for all other criminal offences, are paid to the Treasury. Some fixed penalty income from speed limit enforcement by camera can be netted off, but its use is very strictly ring-fenced for the purposes of meeting expenditure incurred in the prevention or detection of speeding, or red light, offences or in the enforcement of or proceedings in respect of such offences. The netting-off provides for cost-recovery only and furnishes no income for other purposes.