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Police Community Support Officers
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many police community support officers are now in post (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) in West Yorkshire; [132340]
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- (2) how many police community support officers will be in post by 21 December. [132341]
Ms Blears: As of 1 October 2003 there were 1,934 Community Support Officers (CSOs) in England and Wales. Of these 96 CSOs had been recruited by West Yorkshire Police. I have also been informed by West Yorkshire Police that currently Huddersfield have 10 CSOs and will have 18 by the end of March 2004.
We estimate there will be 2,200 Community Support Officers in post in England and Wales by 21 December 2003, rising to over 2,500 by 1 April 2004. We are on track to reach the National Policing Plan target of 4,000 CSOs by the end of 2005.
Police Investigations
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is standard practice for police authorities to keep the report of investigations into their own officers confidential; and under what circumstances a police authority would publish such a report. [132222]
Ms Blears: Generally, in investigations into criminal allegations involving either a member of the police or a member of the public, it is standard to keep investigation reports confidential. The same applies to investigations into complaints against police officers.
It is for police authorities to decide whether to publish reports of investigations: they might choose to do so if they considered that the public interest in disclosing a report's contents outweighed the public interest in preserving its confidentiality.
Police Targets
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will review the target setting framework within which the police services work. [132342]
Ms Blears: The National Policing Plan, due for publication in November, will confirm the levels of improvement in performance required, by individual police forces and authorities, to deliver the existing Public Service Agreement targets (which cover the period April 2003—March 2006; published in Cm 5571). It will be for individual police forces and authorities to ensure that these requirements are reflected in their local strategic and annual policing plans.
Prisons
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications to release on temporary licence have been made this year and in each of the last five years in (a) all prisons in England and Wales and (b) each individual prison in England and Wales. [130534]
Paul Goggins: The Prison Service does not collect the numbers of applications for release on temporary licence. However, the numbers of releases on temporary licence listed by type of establishment and by type of licence are published in Prison statistics England and Wales 2001 (Cm 5743), which is held in the Library.
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Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the prisons that have prison visiting facilities which are (a) permanent and (b) temporary; [131208]
- (2) which of the prisons that have prison visiting facilities include facilities which cater for (a) people with disabilities and (b) children; [131209]
(3) which prison visiting facilities have been (a) refurbished, (b) built and (c) relocated within the last five years; and what the cost was of the work undertaken; [131210]
(4) which prison visiting facilities are included in an improvement programme; what the nature of the improvements planned is in each case; and what the cost is of work to be undertaken. [131211]
Paul Goggins: The Prison Service has a statutory obligation to encourage and assist prisoners to maintain outside contacts. In recognition of the important role that visits can play in achieving this, as well as the benefits for prisoners' successful resettlement, all prisons have permanent visiting areas. Over 90 establishments provide additional facilities such as visitors' centres.
Prison Governors are required to comply with the duty under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to provide adequate facilities for people with disabilities and to make 'reasonable adjustments' to existing facilities. In particular, visitors to prison must be able to access all visits facilities. All establishments are currently assessing their facilities, but there is no central record of work conducted. Over 80 prisons provide play areas for children and an increasing number also offer extended day visits. Our policy is to encourage establishments to provide such facilities wherever possible, subject to individual operational and resource considerations.
Individual governors initiate refurbishments to prisons costing less than £50,000 and the expenditure is incurred from their local budgets. Information on where such refurbishments have taken place and the costs involved are not held centrally. All newly built and contracted-out prisons are required to have a visitors' centre, distinct from visits halls, under the terms of their contract and the costs of building these range from around £25,000 to £200,000.
Prison Service policy is to provide adequate facilities and these are under constant review. However, as most improvements are not centrally resourced, there is no comprehensive record of work carried out, or of the associated costs.
Probation Service
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many pilot projects were conducted in the Probation Service in each of the last 10 years. [124959]
Paul Goggins: Central records go back until 1999. The table sets out for each year since 1999 the number of pilots which were commenced in that year. A number of pilots will have run for more than a year, but are shown only against the year in which they started.
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| Number of pilots | |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 31 |
| 2000 | 14 |
| 2001 | 10 |
| 2002 | 43 |
| 2003 | 46 |
Quad Bikes
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints were made to Merseyside Police about illegal quad bikes in the last 12 months; and how many prosecutions resulted. [131962]
Ms Blears: Detailed figures for the whole of last year are not available. I understand, however, from Merseyside Police that they estimate there were, over the summer months, around 1,000 complaints relating to the misuse of quad bikes in the force area. These resulted in about 100 prosecutions and cautions.
Over the summer months Merseyside Police undertook a specific operation against quad bike riders causing a nuisance. This operation specifically led to 17 prosecutions and 16 vehicles being seized under the provisions of section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002.
Richard Thomas
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place a copy of the report of the inquiry into the conduct of ex-acting chief constable Richard Thomas of Gwent Police in the Library. [132221]
Ms Blears: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Home Department does not hold a copy of the report of the inquiry into the conduct of Richard Thomas, ex-acting chief constable of Gwent Police. The report is the property of Gwent Police and I am informed that they have no plans to publish it in any form.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Euro
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much has been spent in each year by his Department in preparing for UK entry to the euro; how much his Department plans to spend on preparations for UK entry to the euro for each year from the current financial year up to and including 2005–06; and what estimates he has made of the total costs to his Department of changeover to the European Single Currency. [131595]
Mr. Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury gave on 14 October 2003, Official Report, column 142W.
Voter Registration
Chris Ruane: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) adults and (b) adults registered to vote there
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were in each parliamentary constituency in descending order according to the disparity between the two figures. [133049]
Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Chris Ruane, dated 21 October 2003:
- As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent question, asking how many (a) adults and (b) adults registered to vote there were in each parliamentary constituency in descending order according to the disparity between the two figures. (133049)
- I am placing in the House of Commons Library a table which shows the count of adults (that is persons aged 18 and over) in each Parliamentary Constituency in England and Wales, taken from the published 2001 Census Report for Parliamentary Constituencies, compared with electoral register data from February 2001. It has been sorted in descending order, according to the disparity between the two. There are a number of reasons, which I have outlined below, why these counts can vary so greatly and why some constituencies have more registered voters than the Census counted resident adults. Therefore, the data has been sorted, with the constituency showing the greatest number of adults not on the electoral register at the top, and the constituency showing the greatest number of adults registered to vote but not resident in that constituency according to the Census at the bottom.
- The Census and electoral register data are not directly comparable for a number of reasons. These include definitional differences in the way the sources are compiled, differences in the timing of the data for each source being collected, and the delay in people being removed from the electoral register in a constituency after they move away from the area. In addition to this, it is possible for people to be on the electoral register in more than one constituency or none at all.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will list the local authority registration departments that are (a) adopting and (b) not adopting the best practice electoral registration procedures outlined in the Electoral Commission report of 2002, "Making an Impact". [133055]
Mr. Leslie: This information is not collected by my Department. The independent Electoral Commission is planning to undertake and complete early next year research building upon reports it has published in the past year, including "Making an Impact", in order to promote best practice guidance on tackling under-registration. The Government will consider carefully this research which we understand is intended to lead to the establishment of a national framework for the continued monitoring of electoral registration rates. The Electoral Commission is responsible for offering advice and guidance to electoral registration officers on these and other matters and will continue to encourage registration through various promotional activities.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what research on registration rates he has commissioned in the past three years; and what future research he intends to commission on this subject. [133056]
Mr. Leslie: Research on registration rates has not been carried out by this Department or those responsible for electoral matters during the past three
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years. The independent Electoral Commission, set up in 2000 with a remit to keep under review electoral law and practice, has carried out such research since then publishing reports examining the local promotion of electoral registration and voter engagement among black and minority ethnic communities. Arising from its more recent report, "the Electoral Registration Process" the Commission is planning to undertake and complete early next year a further research project to identify the extent and nature of under-registration in particular communities in Britain as well as reviewing the operation and impact of rolling registration. The Government welcomes this proposal and will give due consideration to any further recommendations the Commission may make as it does to all of the Commission's recommendations concerning electoral registration arrangements.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will list the authorities that have initiated proceedings against individuals who fail to register to vote. [133057]
Mr. Leslie: This information is not collected centrally. The Representation of the People Act 1983 requires electoral registration officers (EROs), appointed by local authorities for the purpose, to compile the electoral register. Regulation 23 of the Representation of the People Regulations 2001 permits an ERO to
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require any person to give information required for the purposes of that officer's duties in maintaining registers of parliamentary and local government electors. It is an offence punishable upon conviction by a fine not exceeding £1,000 for a person to fail to comply with a request for information from an ERO, or to give false information to an ERO. Prosecutions for non-compliance are initiated at local discretion.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will set out the Department's assessment of the main reasons for substantial falls in electoral registration rates in the UK over the past six years. [133058]
Mr. Leslie: The Government are concerned at the apparent drop in electoral registration in recent years. We are aware of a number of possible contributing factors, but do not wish to prejudge the conclusions of the independent Electoral Commission which is planning to undertake and complete next year research on this subject, building on reports it has published in the past year. The Government welcome this proposal and will give due consideration to any further recommendations the Commission may make as it does to all of the Commission's recommendations concerning electoral registration arrangements.