§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent by the Metropolitan police on rental vehicles in each month since September 2003. [187063]
§ Ms BlearsI understand from the Commissioner of the Metropolitan police that expenditure has been as follows:
£000 September 2003 668 October 2003 965 November 2003 798 December 2003 603 January 2004 890 February 2004 998 March 2004 1,143 April 2004 877 May 2004 697 June 2004 1,026 July 2004 1,108 The monthly figures include both local (for borough operational command units) and corporate hire (covering centrally hired vehicles for special events).
§ Mr. SwireTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional funding he will make available to Devon and Cornwall police to(a) enforce the Government's Alcohol Strategy and (b) continue funding police community support officers. [183749]
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§ Ms BlearsOn 7 July 2004 the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers (APC0) announced that police in England and Wales would be working with their partners in a fresh drive to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder. The enforcement campaign takes forward one of the recommendations contained in the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England that was published on 15 March 2004. Plymouth and Cornwall and Isle of Scilly (Newquay) police Basic Command Units (BCUs) from the Devon and Cornwall police force are taking part in the campaign. BCUs can apply to the Police Standards Unit in the Home Office for funding to assist them in undertaking enforcement activity during the campaign. Provisionally £2,500 has been allocated to Devon and Cornwall police force to fund enforcement activity in Newquay.
As part of the Spending Review 2004 the Government made a commitment to recruit 20,000 Community Support Officers (CSOs) by 2008 and forces will be eligible for funding to help them meet this target. As yet it is too early to say how the additional funding for CSOs will be allocated. However, a new Neighbourhood Policing Fund will be provided to develop local policing teams across England and Wales.
§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was in 2003–04 of policing in(a) Havering and (b) London. [186910]
§ Ms BlearsThe Metropolitan Police Service's (MRS) net budget requirement in 2003—04 was £2,207.8 million and the net budget for the City of London was £67.2 million. Distribution of resources within the MPS is a matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and the Metropolitan Police Authority.
Resources are allocated directly to borough operational command units using the Service's resource allocation formula. In addition, borough units are able to call upon all-London Units (such as dog sections, Territorial Support Group, Traffic and Air Support Units) when operational priorities dictate.
The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis informs me that the budget for the Havering Borough Operational Command Unit in 2003–04 was £17.3 million. This reflects direct operational costs. The cost of specialist units, non-operational support units and all-London units providing service to Havering was additional and could only be calculated at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. RuffleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were employed by Suffolk police in each year since 1 April 1997. [187189]
§ Ms BlearsOn 31 May 2004 Suffolk constabulary had 1,293 police officers, 113 more than in March 1997. The table shows strength for each year since March 1997.
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Suffolk constabulary—strength: March 1997 to May 2004 As at 31 March Police numbers1 1997 1,180 1998 1,186 1999 1,190 2000 1,145 2001 1,133 2002 1,203
2003 1,253 2004 (31 May) 1,293 1 Source for 1997 to March 2003 is the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate (RDS). May 2004 was collected separately outside of the normal data collection arrangements and has not been subject to the same validation as RDS data. Data collected by RDS for 31 March 2004 will be published shortly.
§ Mr. RuffleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what central Government funding was available for CCTV in each of the last seven years for the Suffolk Police constabulary area. [187193]
§ Ms BlearsSince 2000 the Home Office has provided £960,936 to Suffolk for Close Circuit Television (CCTV) schemes, through the Crime reduction Programme's CCTV initiative.
This breaks down as:
CCTV Round 1 (2000–01—2002–03): £395,024
CCTV Round 2 (2001–02—2002–03): £605,912