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Police Federation
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he next plans to meet the chairman of the Police Federation. [194378]
Ms Blears: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary meets the chair and other officials of the Police Federation on a regular basis. Their next meeting is scheduled for December 2004.
Police Stations
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria he has set on deciding whether a new police station should be built; and what the criteria are for consultation with (a) the public and (b) the local hon. Member. [191133]
Ms Blears:
It is the Government's role to allocate grant funding to police force areas. It is for the Police Authority and Chief Officer to decide on planning and deployment of available resources.
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Under the provisions of the Police Act 1996 (s.96) police authorities are required to make arrangements for obtaining the views of their community on policing in their area.
Rackspace
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received from the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning the activities of UK-based customers of the US company Rackspace; and if he will make a statement. [193230]
Caroline Flint: The Secretary of State did not receive any representations from the Federal Bureau of Investigations in this matter. In the circumstances I do not therefore believe that it is necessary for me to make a statement.
Safer Neighbourhoods Programme (London)
Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will ensure continuity of funding in the roll-out of the Safer Neighbourhoods Programme in London over the next few years. [194130]
Ms Blears: Operational policing initiatives are matters for each police chief officer, within plans and budgets set by the police authority. The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) /Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) are developing the Safer Neighbourhood Programme within their own budget. Police authorities receive general grant to help fund their budgets, broadly in relation to their relative needs for policing and in the light of local resources. This year, general grant provides for about 79 per cent. of the MPA's net budget requirements. The level of grant is considered annually.
The Government have provided an increase in police funding of 21 per cent. in real terms since 1997 and has helped to secure higher police officer numbers through the Crime Fighting Fund.
Neighbourhood policing is one of Government's key priorities for the next five years and it will support a significant expansion of accessible and responsive neighbourhood policing across all forces. The Government are providing funding to increase the numbers of community support officers in England and Wales to 5,500 by March 2005 and will provide further funding to increase numbers to 24,000 by the end of 2007–08.
Special Constables
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables have become members of the full-time police force in each of the last five years. [193894]
Ms Blears:
Information on those joining the Police Service and the wastage rates for the special constabulary is published annually in a Home Office Statistical Bulletin. Recruits who had served previously as special constables are not separately identified.
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Tobacco Smoke Testing
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons it is his policy to grant licences under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to test the effects of tobacco smoke. [191135]
Caroline Flint: The Government stand firmly by their ban on tests which involve animals in the development and testing of tobacco products announced in November 1997. No such tests have been authorised under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 since that time. However, applications may be considered for licence authorities involving the potential exposure of animals to tobacco smoke when this is the only means of studying an important feature of the development or treatment of a number of health problems.
Under-age Drinking
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the (a) on licence and (b) off licence premises discovered to be selling alcohol to underage young people during the Home Office's Police Standards and ACPO summer initiative have been prosecuted successfully. [193740]
Ms Blears: Statistics on the number of successful prosecutions during the Home Office's Police Standards and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) summer initiative cannot be separately identified on the Home Office Court Proceedings database. However the Police Standards Unit is monitoring the progress of prosecutions resulting from the summer campaign. At present it is too early to determine the outcome of these prosecutions.
HEALTH
Alcoholism (Greater London)
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had, and with whom, on co-ordinating policy to reduce alcoholism in Greater London. [194155]
Dr. Ladyman: The Government's alcohol harm reduction strategy for England was published in March 2004 and includes a range of actions to tackle all aspects of alcohol-related harm. Responsibility for implementation lies jointly with the Department and the Home Office.
The strategy contains actions that focus on tackling serious alcohol problems and alcohol dependence, for example, improving training for doctors, nurses and other health professionals, emphasising early identification of alcohol problems. The Department is conducting an audit of the demand for and provision of alcohol treatment in England by the end of January 2005. The audit will provide information on gaps between demand and provision of treatment services both locally and nationally and will be used as a basis for the Department to develop a programme of improvement to treatment services. The information will provide local data on all areas including Greater London that can be used by local strategic planners.
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Autism
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what training general practitioners receive in autism awareness; and if he will make a statement. [194783]
Dr. Ladyman: The training of general practitioners is a matter for the relevant professional bodies. This question should be addressed to the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Care Homes
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) care homes and (b) care home beds there have been in (i) the Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) Tyne and Wear and (iv) the UK in each year since 1997. [193605]
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Dr. Ladyman: I understand from the chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that figures for later years were collected by the National Care Standards Commission, and now the CSCI, but that comparable details are not available. The number of care homes and care home beds for the nearest equivalent areas are shown in the tables.
Table 1 shows the number of care homes in Gateshead and South Tyneside, Newcastle and North Tyneside, Northumberland, and England at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001.
Table 2 shows the number of care home places in Gateshead and South Tyneside, Newcastle and North Tyneside, Northumberland, and England at 31 March for the years 1997 to 2001.
(25) Nursing relates to Gateshead and South Tyneside health authority (HA), Newcastle and North Tyneside HA and Northumberland HA; Residential care relates to Gateshead Council with Social Services Responsibilities (CSSR), South Tyneside CSSR, Newcastle CSSR, North Tyneside CSSR, and Northumberland CSSR.
(26) Nursing home figures include places in general nursing homes, mental nursing homes and private hospitals and clinics.
Source:
RA and RH(N) form A.
(27) Nursing relates to Gateshead and South Tyneside health authority (HA), Newcastle and North Tyneside HA and Northumberland HA; Residential care relates to Gateshead Council with Social Services Responsibilities (CSSR), South Tyneside CSSR, Newcastle CSSR, North Tyneside CSSR, and Northumberland CSSR.
(28) Nursing home figures include places in general nursing homes, mental nursing homes and private hospitals and clinics. .
Source:
RA and RH(N) form A.
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