GREATER AUTHORITY London Assembly (Plenary) 15 June 2005

PRIORITY ORDER PAPER

Report No: 7 Subject: Questions to Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Report of: Director Of Secretariat

Questions not asked during the meeting are to receive a written response by Monday 20 June 2005

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Terrorism Threat to London Question No: 238 / 2005 Bob Neill Could the Commissioner update his assessment of the current terrorism threat to London? Have there been any factors that have changed his assessment recently?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis ID cards Question No: 164 / 2005 Darren Johnson What would be the advantages and disadvantages of ID cards for the Met Police?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Safer Neighbourhoods Question No: 151 / 2005 Sally Hamwee What local monitoring mechanisms are being put in place to ensure genuine local accountability of Safer Neighbourhood teams?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis ID Cards Question No: 165 / 2005 Peter Hulme Cross At the London Assembly plenary last December, Mick Messinger was unable to point to any evidence to support the view that ID cards are of any use in the fight against terrorism. Is the Commissioner aware of any such evidence?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Crime and Disorder Partnerships Question No: 203 / 2005 John Biggs Do sufficient incentives exist for and is sufficient priority given by London Boroughs to develop community safety partnerships with the MPS? If the position is variable, with examples of good practice but in other cases insufficient attention, what should be done to bring the laggards up to standard?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Safer Neighborhood Teams Question No: 237 / 2005 Does the Commissioner believe that there will be adequate funding in 2006/07 and 2007/08 for the additional 400 Safer Neighbourhood Teams required to meet the Mayor’s Policing Strategy or will a significant increase in the MPA budget be required?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Binge-Drinking Question No: 174 / 2005 Joanne McCartney According to Mr Chris Fox, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers, the police have yet to get on top of the widespread problems with binge-drinking by young people in town and city centres. What plans does the Met have to tackle this problem?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Community Safety Question No: 265 / 2005 Angie Bray Why is it with 30,000 police officers on the streets of London, that residents are complaining that they see no foot patrols and response times to many crimes are so slow?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Young people Question No: 149 / 2005 Graham Tope How does the Met engage with young people?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Outer London Borough Policing of Night Time Economy Question No: 250 / 2005 Andrew Pelling Why is there not a substantial attempt to move police officer resources to Outer London Boroughs, which have experienced major increases in the size of their nighttime economies?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Violent Attacks Against Women Question No: 169 / 2005 Murad Qureshi What is the Met doing to address brutally violent attacks against women in London, both in their homes and on our streets? Why has the conviction rate for rape fallen from 24% to 6%, when the numbers of reported rapes have trebled in the last decade?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Wildlife Crime Areas Question No: 218 / 2005 Richard Barnes Do you consider Wildlife Crime to be a growing problem in London, and if so, which areas are of especial concern?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Living wage- MPA/MPS staff Question No: 161 / 2005 Jenny Jones How do you propose to ensure that all MPA/MPS staff (including those whose jobs are contracted out) are paid a minimum wage of £6.70 per hour, the figure identified as a living wage for London by the Mayor’s Living Wage Unit?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis MPS vehicles during General Election campaign Question No: 141 / 2005 Graham Tope Do you believe it is appropriate that MPS-owned vehicles in the Prime Minister’s entourage were fitted with Labour party slogans during the General Election campaign?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Europol Question No: 167 / 2005 Damian Hockney Would you join with the Mayor in expressing concern over the granting of lifetime immunity from prosecution to all officers of the EU police force Europol, for any crime they commit in the course of their duties (except traffic offences)?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Response Times Question No: 173 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross Are you happy with the Met's overall performance on response times to emergency and non- emergency calls?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Detection Rates by Borough Question No: 222 / 2005 Richard Barnes What are the detection rates by boroughs for all recorded crimes categories?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Gun Crime Question No: 196 / 2005 Jennette Arnold Following the shooting incident in Upper Clapton on Friday 13th May, local people are fearing revenge attacks. Can you reassure the public that the police are taking every possible step to prevent further incidents of gun crime?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis PCSO's Question No: 264 / 2005 Elizabeth Howlett What is the timescale for the recruitment, training and placement of PCSO’s into Borough’s where the local authority is paying for extra PCSO’s above those provided under the Safer Neighbourhood Scheme?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Violent crime Question No: 152 / 2005 Geoff Pope While explaining why recent recorded violent crime statistics are unreliable, the report Trends in Violent Crime since 1999/2000 concludes that violent crime in London has increased since 2003 - do you accept this conclusion?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Equalities Training Question No: 211 / 2005 Tony Arbour What was the total annual cost of diversity and equalities training etc in each year 2000 - 2004? How much time do officers of each rank spend on diversity - equalities etc training each year 2000 - 2004?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Volunteer Front Desks Question No: 253 / 2005 Andrew Pelling Which Boroughs use volunteers to person police front desks?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Traffic Policing Question No: 184 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross There is a perception that traffic policing is under-resourced and that speeding and other infringements are only enforced when there are speed cameras and other technologies in place - is this true?

Note: The remaining questions have not been put in priority order by all Assembly party Groups

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Detection rates targets Question No: 142 / 2005 Dee Doocey What impact is pressure to meet detection rates targets having on policing priorities?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Gun crime Question No: 143 / 2005 Mike Tuffrey What are the most recent monthly figures for gun-enabled crime in London?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Stop and search Question No: 144 / 2005 Graham Tope Do you think Londoners of the Muslim faith should expect to be stopped and searched more often than other Londoners?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Robbery Question No: 145 / 2005 Dee Doocey Why did the Met fail to meet its target for reducing robbery by 11% in 2004/5?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Satisfaction Question No: 146 / 2005 Mike Tuffrey Why does public confidence in policing remain relatively low?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Technology Question No: 147 / 2005 Dee Doocey Do you believe that more use of advanced technology could be made to reduce bureaucracy and free-up officer time?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Crime prevention Question No: 148 / 2005

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Mike Tuffrey What role is there for the Met in preventing crime in the first place?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Service Review Question No: 150 / 2005 Sally Hamwee What benefits do you expect the Service Review to deliver, in particular with respect to frontline policing, and how soon do you expect Londoners to be able to see them?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Background checks Question No: 153 / 2005 Geoff Pope Did the Met meet its target for completing 90% of background checks in 10 days?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis London Safety Camera Partnership Question No: 154 / 2005 Jenny Jones Have you given further consideration to the outsourcing of work from the London Safety Camera Partnership to neighbouring Camera Partnerships?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Safety Cameras- Prosecutions Question No: 155 / 2005 Jenny Jones Why is there no timetable for all the safety cameras in London being set to prosecute drivers going above Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidelines?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis London Safety Camera Partnership Question No: 156 / 2005 Jenny Jones What are the blocks to the London Safety Camera Partnership speeding up its roll out programme of fixed site cameras and reducing the timetable from four years to two years? Given that cameras do save lives, has the MPS carried out any evaluation of how many deaths and serious injuries might be prevented by a faster roll out programme?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Siting of red light cameras- London Question No: 157 / 2005 Jenny Jones Do you think that the Department for Transport (DfT) criteria for the siting of red light cameras

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Cause of death- Met Police Officers Question No: 158 / 2005 Jenny Jones Since 1970, what have been the main causes of death amongst Met Police officers whilst on duty?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Road Collisions- Officer absence Question No: 159 / 2005 Jenny Jones How many officer days’ absence are caused by road collisions and is there any action you can take to reduce the number and severity of these collisions?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Policy on Tasers Question No: 160 / 2005 Jenny Jones What is the MPS policy on the use of tasers? How many officers are trained in their use? Do you agree that these stun guns are powerful weapons and that their use should not be extended to officers who have not been trained in use of firearms?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Street performers/musicians Question No: 162 / 2005 Jenny Jones What guidance is given to officers in regard to the moving on of street performers/musicians who are not obstructing or being menacing?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Question No: 163 / 2005 Darren Johnson Is there still a legitimate case for having a separate City of London police force that is not accountable to Londoners through the MPA?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Lawrence Report Question No: 166 / 2005 Peter Hulme Cross How would you respond to law-abiding members of the public who see Recommendation 61 of the Lawrence Report as taking away their right to refuse to give police officers personal information? 8

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis In-House Magazine - “The sharp End” Question No: 168 / 2005 Damian Hockney No doubt you are aware of the complaints about the Met’s new in-house magazine, ‘The Sharp End’. It has been described by the Federation as patronising, insulting and a huge waste of money. Have you read it, and if so, do you agree?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Sex Trade Question No: 170 / 2005 Murad Qureshi What measures are you taking to protect women and girls who are forced into the sex trade in this city?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Single Non Emergency Number Question No: 171 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross What are you views on a single Non Emergency Number for London?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Data Collection Question No: 172 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross What procedures does the Met have in place for collecting information that may lead to the issuing of ASBOs or Section 30 Orders?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Anti-Social Behaviour Question No: 175 / 2005 Joanne McCartney A common problem reported by my constituents who have a bus shelter/stop outside their home or business is the anti-social behaviour it attracts. Are the police talking to Transport for London with a view to a solution?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Customs and Excise Question No: 176 / 2005 John Biggs How many Customs Officers routinely work with MPS officers on joint investigations?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Airport Security Question No: 178 / 2005 John Biggs What contribution do airport operators make to the cost of policing London’s airports?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis MPS/Royal Parks Constabulary Question No: 180 / 2005 John Biggs How many police officers are currently deployed in each of the Royal Parks? And how many arrests did they make in the last year?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Question No: 181 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross Are you aware of any discussions between TfL and train operating companies in South London about levels of policing of commuter rail routes and are the police involved in these discussions?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Borough Community Safety Teams Question No: 182 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross Is there consistent high performance and best practice amongst London boroughs on their use of ASBOS, Section 30 notices, parenting orders and evictions to deal with crime and antisocial behaviour? How would you like to see Council’s improve their performance on antisocial behaviour?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Park Rangers/Wardens contact database Question No: 183 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross At present members of the public have very little information as to how to contact their park wardens. Instead of dialling 999 for police if there is concern over suspicious activities in parks would it not be more practicable to have a contact database with contact numbers for park wardens and park rangers at local police stations. Are there any plans to have an updated contact database of park wardens and rangers in local police stations?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Mobile Phones Question No: 185 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross

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Have any drivers in London been prosecuted for driving while using hand held mobile phones ¿ this unsafe practice seems to be everywhere.

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Anti-Social Behaviour Question No: 186 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross Can the police tackle the playing of very loud music in cars? Residents living along major roads are tortured by intolerable loud music during the summer months? The law seems to refer specifically to domestic and industrial premises noise nuisance ¿ and there appears to be neither the legal nor enforcement framework in place to tackle this extremely antisocial behaviour. Would you recommend the introduction of statutory regulation say through the proposed Road Safety Bill?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Waltham Forest Question No: 187 / 2005 Jennette Arnold Can you update me on operations to reduce violent crime in Waltham Forest?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Islington Question No: 188 / 2005 Jennette Arnold Can you update me on operations to reduce violent crime in Islington?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Hackney Question No: 189 / 2005 Jennette Arnold Can you update me on operations to reduce violent crime in Hackney?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Homophobic attacks Question No: 190 / 2005 Jennette Arnold Following the recent homophobic attacks in Islington, would you support more CCTV in key spots like Upper Street?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Safer Neighbourhoods Question No: 191 / 2005 John Biggs What assessment have you made of the impact of the Safer Neighbourhoods teams across

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London and can you give us examples of good practice?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Knife Crime Question No: 192 / 2005 Jennette Arnold A passenger travelling on the 257 bus through Leytonstone was robbed at knifepoint on 18th April. Can you tell me: A) What actions are being taken to reduce knife crime in London? B) What actions are being taken to improve safety and reduce crime in Leytonstone? C) What actions are being taken to reduce crime on London buses?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Knife Crime Question No: 193 / 2005 Joanne McCartney What lessons can be learnt from the successful knife amnesty in Enfield?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Sale of knives Question No: 194 / 2005 Jennette Arnold What is the next step in your strategy to prevent the sale of knives to young people following the recent undercover operation in Kingsland Road?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Anti-social behaviour Question No: 195 / 2005 Jennette Arnold Work on the new Bridge Road playground in Walthamstow had to be halted after it was repeatedly targeted by vandals. This has been a massive blow to the local community who have worked hard to get the funding together for the project. Can you tell me how the police will be working with partners to resolve this?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Operation Resolve Question No: 197 / 2005 Jennette Arnold What is your assessment of the success of Operation Resolve and what is the next step?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Notting Hill Carnival Question No: 198 / 2005 Murad Qureshi 12

Can you give us an update as to the thinking of the future route of the Notting Hill Carnival?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Police Consultative Committee Question No: 200 / 2005 Jennette Arnold What is the future role and funding arrangements for the Police Consultative Committee?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Designing crime out of housing Question No: 201 / 2005 John Biggs Is sufficient being done to design crime out of new housing developments in London?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis ASBOs Question No: 202 / 2005 John Biggs What police resource is used in the enforcement of ASBOs?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Gipsy Hill Question No: 204 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross At the May meeting of the Gipsy Hill Police Sector Forum the local police was adamant in asserting that his local Lambeth and the London-wide police budget had been cut. When questioned he was not referring to the workforce but to an overtime budget and a Special Task Group assisting in high crime areas in Lambeth. Would the Commissioner lay out in some detail what potential police resources are available to Gipsy Hill ward Lambeth and what resources can Lambeth expect continuing into the future?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis District Centres Question No: 205 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross Some district centres such as Crystal Palace triangle cross over more than one Borough policing command. (5 Boroughs meet at Crystal Palace). This has the effect of diluting crime statistics and causing problems of co-ordination with fragmented response and follow up. What co- operation frameworks are you putting in place and what are the prospects of a cross boundary super neighbourhood team in areas split by administrative boundaries such as Crystal Palace, Camberwell and Herne Hill?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Youth Gangs in Rotherhithe Question No: 206 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross Youth gangs in Rotherhithe have unfortunately made front page headline news for two consecutive weeks in Southwark News on 12th and 19th May 2005. There were even cross- border movements of youth gangs from places like Lewisham to make trouble in Rotherhithe. Many people of Rotherhithe are very concerned with the latest surge in youth gang anti-social activities even before the start of the fast-approaching school summer holiday. Can you give a declaration of the Met Police’s commitment that adequate policing resources will be made available and directed at combating crime and the fear of crime in Rotherhithe?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis The Rotherhithe & Surrey Docks Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team Question No: 207 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross This team is a welcome recent introduction and is already making positive contribution to the collective efforts for combating crime and the fear of crime in Rotherhithe. The people of Rotherhithe have expressed an increasingly vocal and public concern that youth gang anti-social activities often take place during the weekends and after 10pm when there is restrictive or no safer neighbourhood policing team members to patrol the streets of Rotherhithe. Can Sir Ian Blair help to secure the additional policing resources to extend the working hours of the Rotherhithe & Surrey Docks Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Civilian Staff Question No: 208 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross The Southwark’s Police 1,000 Campaign has been arguing that to adequately police the borough there should be at least 1,000 police officers. However civilian staff support front line policing. What steps are the Met taking to protect civilian staff numbers?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis ASBOs in Camberwell Question No: 209 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross If the ASBO process in Camberwell has not eradicated the street drinking and associated problems by the autumn of 2005 will the police actively support and agree to enforce the introduction of a Street Gathering and Drinking Ban in the whole of Camberwell SE5 postal area?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis VIPS Question No: 210 / 2005 Valerie Shawcross The Volunteers in Policing, Southwark, are proud and privileged to be part of the volunteer team that is now manning the Camberwell Police Station Front Desk two afternoons a week and look forward to more volunteers being recruited and trained so the desk can be open all week. This can only happen if the Met continues to support this initiative and hopefully increases support for their Manager, Casey Marie. When you visited the Front Desk opening in Camberwell, you said you liked the VIPS logo and thought it should be rolled out throughout the Met. Has there been any progress with this?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Crime Prevention Activities in the Community Question No: 212 / 2005 Tony Arbour What was the total annual cost of crime prevention activities by the MPS in the community in each year 2000 - 2004? How much time do officers of each rank spend on crime prevention activities in the community each year 2000 - 2004?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Telephone Response Times Question No: 213 / 2005 Tony Arbour What is being done to speed up responses to telephone calls to the police in Richmond upon Thames? When will Richmond upon Thames be incorporated into the new system being installed by the MPS?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Personal Radios Question No: 214 / 2005 Tony Arbour How many police officers and PCSOs have not got their own personal police radios?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Availability of Police Cells in South West London Question No: 215 / 2005 Tony Arbour a. Has the shortage of police cells in South West London affected the number of arrests being made by local police? b. What is the programme for bringing more police cells in to use in SW London? c. What are the opportunity costs of having to transport a prisoner from Richmond to cells at Bexley and back to appear in Court at Richmond?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Wildlife Crime Conferences Question No: 216 / 2005 Richard Barnes What impact do you think the Mayor’s Wildlife Crime Conferences have had on reducing wildlife crime in London?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Wildlife Crimes Officers Question No: 217 / 2005 Richard Barnes How many Wildlife Crime Officers are there in London, broken down by Borough?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Wildlife Crimes Statistics Question No: 219 / 2005 Richard Barnes What statistics are available for the rate of wildlife crime in London?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Wildlife Crimes Training Courses Question No: 220 / 2005 Richard Barnes How many officers and from which Boroughs have attended wildlife training courses in the last two years

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Wildlife Crime Prioritization Question No: 221 / 2005 Richard Barnes Given that Wildlife crime is neither a Governmental, MPA or Mayoral priority how does the Commissioner intend to ensure that Wildlife Crime is taken seriously by the MPS?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Detective Officers Question No: 223 / 2005 Richard Barnes What is the present vacancy position for detective trained officers by borough and command unit?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Commercial Crime Question No: 224 / 2005 Richard Barnes Commercial crime has no MPS or governmental priority or target. What is the MPS doing to protect our retail and commercial businesses?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Shop Lifting Question No: 225 / 2005 Richard Barnes How many fixed penalty notices, by Borough, have been issued to shop lifters since the re- categorisation of the crime?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Increase in Recorded Crime in Barnet Question No: 227 / 2005 Brian Coleman The total number of offences recorded in Barnet in 2004/05 shows an increase of 4.51% whilst a majority of other Boroughs saw a significant decrease in recorded crime. What steps will the MPS be taking in Barnet to reduce these figures over the coming year?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Increase in Police Officers Barnet Question No: 228 / 2005 Brian Coleman Do you agree that Barnet requires more police officers to combat the increasing levels of violence against the person, sexual offences, robbery and burglary of dwellings?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Operation Bangor Question No: 229 / 2005 Brian Coleman Will the Commissioner join me in congratulating Chief Superintendent Mark Ricketts, the Borough Commander of Barnet on the success of Operation Bangor?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Safer Neighbourhood Teams in Barnet Question No: 230 / 2005 Brian Coleman How many new Safer Neighbourhood Teams are to be rolled out in Barnet as part of the Mayor's Policing Strategy? Can you give a timescale for their arrival?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Safer Neighbourhood Teams in Camden Question No: 231 / 2005 Brian Coleman How many new Safer Neighbourhood Teams are to be rolled out in Camden as part of the Mayor¿s Policing Strategy? Can you give a timescale for their arrival?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Cannabis Possession in Barnet Question No: 232 / 2005 Brian Coleman How many people have been given street cautions for the possession of Cannabis in Barnet since it was reclassified?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Cannabis Possession in Camden Question No: 233 / 2005 Brian Coleman How many people have been given street cautions for the possession of Cannabis in Camden since it was reclassified?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Cannabis Possession Statistics Question No: 234 / 2005 Brian Coleman Are street cautions for the possession of cannabis recorded within the monthly and annual crime statistics published by the MPS as offences?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis RAF Formula Question No: 235 / 2005 Elizabeth Howlett In light of the present underspend on the Metropolitan Police budget, which has a historical precedent, and as London would now have an extra 70 officers on the streets were it not for the 2% cap on the RAF, do you now consider the cap was necessary?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Reporting of Crime Question No: 236 / 2005 Elizabeth Howlett Do you believe having more officers on streets increases or decreases the reporting of crime?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Anti-social criminal behaviour on Buses Question No: 239 / 2005 Bob Neill What measures are you taking to tackle anti-social and criminal behaviour on London Buses in Bromley?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Anti-social and criminal behaviour on Buses Question No: 240 / 2005 Bob Neill What measures are you taking to tackle anti-social and criminal behaviour on London Buses in Bexley?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Bluebird Parade Question No: 241 / 2005 Andrew Pelling How will policing on the Bluebird Parade in Shirley be improved?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Policing of Displaced Travellers Question No: 242 / 2005 Andrew Pelling What extra work has fallen upon the service in the London Borough of Sutton after the displacement of Travellers after action by the service and the local authority in the London Borough of Croydon?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Lessons Learned Policing of Travellers Question No: 243 / 2005 Andrew Pelling What lessons can be learnt on working on Travellers’ issues from the good practice adopted by the service in Croydon?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Travellers Issues Officers Question No: 244 / 2005 Andrew Pelling Which Borough commands have a full time officer responsible for Travellers’ issues?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Traffic Police Officers Question No: 245 / 2005 Andrew Pelling Please detail the number of traffic police officers in London for each financial year since 1992- 93.

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Uninsured Vehicles Question No: 246 / 2005 Andrew Pelling What percentage of vehicles do you estimate are driven uninsured on London’s roads?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Unlicensed Vehicles Question No: 247 / 2005 Andrew Pelling What percentage of vehicles do you estimate are driven unlicensed on London’s roads?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Sutton Borough Policing Question No: 248 / 2005 Andrew Pelling What do you judge to be the key achievements of the Sutton Borough command in the last financial year and the main challenges facing the Sutton Borough command in the current financial year?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Croydon Borough Policing Question No: 249 / 2005 Andrew Pelling What do you judge to be the key achievements of the Croydon Borough command in the last financial year and the main challenges facing the Croydon Borough Command in this financial year?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Outer London Borough RAF Formula for Night Time Economy Question No: 251 / 2005 Andrew Pelling Using that part of the RAF formula that applies to the size of the night time economy how many officers are allocated to each Borough by that part of the formula.

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Croydon Borough Safer Neighbourhood Allocation Question No: 252 / 2005 Andrew Pelling Bearing in mind the very large size of the Croydon Borough command population could Croydon exceptionally have a larger safer neighbourhood allocation than the fixed number per Borough?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Support for Volunteer Front Desks Question No: 254 / 2005 Andrew Pelling Are you supportive of the use of volunteers to person police front desks?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Removal of Policing Resources Question No: 255 / 2005 Andrew Pelling Policing resources were removed from Shirley, Heathfield and Selsdon to provide for new safer neighbourhood teams in the Croydon Borough command. Was this an equitable move of resources?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Addington Village Police Station Question No: 256 / 2005 Andrew Pelling Can the front desk facility at Addington Village police station be saved?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Safer Neighbourhood Policing Question No: 257 / 2005 Andrew Pelling Major petitions organised by the local GLA member are forthcoming on safer neighbourhood teams and the maintenance of dedicated police officers for Heathfield, Selsdon & Ballards, Croham and Shirley wards. What are the current arrangements and prospects for dedicated policing resources in each of these wards?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Success and Challenges of Neighbourhood Teams Question No: 258 / 2005 Andrew Pelling Please detail the successes of and challenges faced by each neighbourhood team in Sutton and Croydon.

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis London Plan Policing Resources Question No: 259 / 2005 Andrew Pelling The London Plan provides for an extra 26,000 homes to be built in Sutton and Croydon. How is this increased prospective call upon Police resources planned for in the MPS?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Crystal Place Policing Question No: 260 / 2005 Andrew Pelling The Croydon Borough commander has done good work on co-operative work with other neighbouring commands and especially on preparing the ground for cross Borough boundary policing at Crystal Palace. The local GLA member has also presented a large petition of Croydon residents seeking the creation of a cross border Crystal Palace safer neighbourhood team. Will such a team be created?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Mini-Mopeds Question No: 261 / 2005 Andrew Pelling Many areas in Croydon and Sutton are cursed with the riding of small mini-mopeds and motorcycles on pathways, parks, open spaces and roads by riders often unhelmeted. Frequently it seems that individual community ward officers do their very best to tackle the problems arising from this behaviour. What though is best practice across the Metropolitan Police Service on dealing with this problem ? What powers are employed to tackle such behaviour and what additional powers could the police service seek to tackle this issue?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Queen's Speech Opportunities and Challenges Question No: 262 / 2005 Andrew Pelling What opportunities and challenges do you see for the Service from proposals in the Queen’s Speech?

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Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Officers Deployment Question No: 263 / 2005 Richard Barnes In each shift how many officers are on patrol duty and how many are on station-based duty? On average what percentage of time of patrolling officers is taken up by desk or station based duties? On the average shift how many police officers are categorized as station based? Can you please provide this information by borough breakdown for each of the last four years?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Knife Crime in Schools Question No: 266 / 2005 Elizabeth Howlett Is the MPS working with schools to stop the culture of pupils carrying knives? Please elaborate on such programmes.

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Knife offences by under 16’s Question No: 267 / 2005 Elizabeth Howlett What statistics does the MPS hold on knife offences carried out by under 16’s?

Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Safer Neighborhood Teams Question No: 268 / 2005 Elizabeth Howlett How many neighborhood teams are still to be placed and into which boroughs?

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