To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (i) complaint cases and (ii) complaint matters against the conduct of Ministry of Defence police personnel received during (1) the period 1 October 1985 to 30 September 1986, (2) the period 1 October 1986 to 31 December 1987, (3) 1988 and (4) 1989 were (a) withdrawn, (b) informally resolved, (c) ill-founded, (d) waived, (e) unsubstantiated and (f) substantiated; and how many are currently pending.
Details of the complaint cases and complaint matters completed during the periods listed (which are the periods covered by successive reports by the chief constable) are as follows:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current annual budget for sending Ministry of Defence police personnel on external courses; what are the equivalent figures for each of the last five years; and from which subheads of which votes these funds are taken.
The annual budgets for external training fees for the MOD police for the present and previous five years have been:
| FY | £ |
| 1985–86 | 84,715 |
| 1986–87 | 99,712 |
| 1987–88 | 89,000 |
| 1988–89 | 91,000 |
| 1989–90 | 113,050 |
| 1990–91 | 123,650 |
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are being taken to ensure that members of the public can easily differentiate between (i) uniforms and (ii) vehicles of the Ministry of Defence police and Home Department forces, in particular the Metropolitan police.
It is the Department's policy, strongly supported by Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary, that the Ministry of Defence police, as a force of civilian police officers operating under the 1987 Act, should be brought into line wherever possible with Home Department police forces. In furtherance of this policy, the uniforms and vehicles of the Ministry of Defence police are similar to but not identical with other constabularies, differing only in the different designs of cap badges, buttons, logos, and so on.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on the use of AAC Netheravon for public order training by the Ministry of Defence police; whether there is any transfer of funds from the Ministry of Defence police to the Army Air Corps for use of this facility; and what other bases and facilities are used by the Ministry of Defence police for public order training;(2) how many personnel from the Ministry of Defence police have undergone public order training in each of the last five years;(3) if he will make a statement on the nature of public order training given to the Ministry of Defence police;(4) what has been the cost of providing public order training for the Ministry of Defence police for each of the last five years; and from which subheads of which votes this money was taken.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Member for Hove (Mr. Sainsbury) on 5 July 1988 at column 537.In common with all other police forces in the country MOD police officers undergo public order training in accordance with standards laid down by ACPO.
| At MOD PTS Medmenham | At Home Department Police Schools | ||||
| Constable | Constable to Inspector | Sergeant to Chief Superintendent | |||
| Recruit course | Refresher course | Public Order course | Public Order course | Total numbers trained | |
| 1986 | 726 | 0 | 26 | 65 | 817 |
| 1987 | 548 | 142 | 94 | 31 | 815 |
| 1988 | 150 | 752 | 514 | 5 | 1,421 |
| 1989 | 113 | 0 | 359 | 14 | 486 |
| 1990 | 453 | 0 | 46 | 14 | 513 |
| PTS £ | HD police schools £ | |
| 1986 | 136,000 | n/a |
| 1987 | 137,000 | n/a |
| 1988 | 219,000 | 1,203 |
| 1989 | 156,000 | 3,238 |
| 1990 | 130,000 | 1,485 |
All MDP officers receive three days' public order training during their recruit course; two days were included until 1989 in the three-week long five-yearly refresher course for constables; and five-day courses on public order for ranks up to inspector are held from time to time. All these courses take place at the MOD police training school at Medmenham.
Officers of ranks from sergeant to chief superintendent attend specialist courses connected with public order at Home Department police schools, notably that of the West Yorkshire constabulary; and chief officers attend public order seminars held at the police staff college, Bramshill.
In addition, during an MDP officer's service, continuation training is given locally on an opportunity basis, or when required in anticipation of a particular event. Examples of the latter are the use of RAF Quedgeley in conjunction with the Gloucestershire constabulary in 1986 and 1987; and of AAC Netheravon in 1988 and 1989 by officers standing by for the summer solstice activities at Stonehenge.
The numbers of MDP officers given public order training over the past five years are:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many copies of the Ministry of Defence police annual report are printed each year.
Three hundred and forty-five copies of the chief constable of the Ministry of Defence police's annual report for 1989 were printed. Similar numbers are printed each year.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the latest edition of the Ministry of Defence police discipline regulations, together with any subsequent amendments.
Yes, I will make the necessary arrangements.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the total annual budget of the Ministry of Defence police; what are the equivalent figures for each of the last five years; and from which subheads of which votes these funds are taken;(2) what is the annual budget for
(a) personnel costs, (b) vehicles and (c) equipment excluding vehicles, for Ministry of Defence police; what are the equivalent figures for each of the last five years; and from which subheads of which votes these funds are taken.
A separate budget covering the manpower, clothing and some support costs of the MOD police was introduced on 1 April 1988. The vehicles used by the force continue to be provided by the units or establishments at which MDP is stationed or by MOD(Army) if specialist vehicles are required. Prior to that date costs of the MOD police fell largely on the users of its services, and were not separately identified.Figures for the annual budget since 1 April 1988 are as follows:
| Financial year | Manpower £ million | Non-manpower £ million | Total £ million at current financial year prices |
| 1988–89 | 95·603 | 0·652 | 96·255 |
| 1989–90 | 103·181 | 0·976 | 104·157 |
| 1990–91 | 113·301 | 0·757 | 114·058 |
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the annual operating cost of running a separate radio system for the Ministry of Defence criminal investigation department; and from which budget these costs are taken.
The annual cost of maintaining the specialist radio equipments used by the CID, which are similar to those of Home Department police forces, is £1,300.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the operational support unit of the Ministry of Defence police.
The future composition and deployment of the operational support unit is under review. Like other police forces, there is a continuing case for CCMDP to have readily available a body of well-trained officers who can be deployed to back up stations whose resources are insufficient to meet current or temporary situations.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what has been the number of complaint cases made against members of the Ministry of Defence police at RAF Greenham Common since the byelaws were declared invalid;(2) how many complaint matters have been received against members of the Ministry of Defence police at RAF Greenham Common since the byelaws were declared invalid; and if he will list them in the 13 categories used by the Police Complaints Authority.
Between 12 July 1990, the date of the House of Lords judgment on the validity of byelaw 2(b), and 27 November 1990, 34 complaint cases against MOD police officers at RAF Greenham Common were recorded in accordance with section 85(1) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.These involved a total of 53 complaint matters. Details in the form requested are as follows:
| (i) Incivility | 5 |
| (ii) Assault | 16 |
| (iii) Irregularity in procedure | — |
| (iv) Traffic irregularity | 1 |
| (v) Neglect of duty | — |
| (vi) Corrupt practice | — |
| (vii) Mishandling of property | — |
| (viii) Irregularity in relation to evidence/perjury | — |
| (ix) Oppressive conduct or harassment | 7 |
| (x) Irregular arrest | 5 |
| (xi) Irregular stop/search | 2 |
| (xii) Irregular search of premises | 7 |
| (xiii) Other | 10 |
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the annual cost of production of the Ministry of Defence police newspaper, "Talk Through"; and from which subheads of which votes these funds are taken.
"Talk Through" is funded from MOD common services (reprographic services) within vote subhead 1L9, at a current annual cost of £15,000.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is (1) the total procurement cost, and (2) the annual operating cost of the Courgarnet radio system operated by the Ministry of Defence police; and from which subheads of which votes these costs are taken.
The total procurement cost of Courgarnet to date has been £2·651 million; the annual running cost of spares and maintenance is £331,000. These costs fall to vote 2F2.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if Ministry of Defence police are ever deployed to overseas bases.
One superintendent is currently serving on loan with the sovereign base area police in Cyprus. Otherwise, MOD police officers are deployed overseas and on Her Majesty's ships at sea as and when required to carry out inquiries. There are no MOD police stations outside the United Kingdom.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) men and (b) women are employed by the Ministry of Defence police; and at what ranks they are employed.
The number of male and female MOD police officers by rank on 1 November 1990 was:
| Male | Female | Total | |
| Chief Constable | 1 | — | 1 |
| Deputy Chief Constable | 1 | — | 1 |
| Assistant Chief Constable | 5 | — | 5 |
| Chief Superintendent | 13 | — | 13 |
| Superintendent | 27 | — | 27 |
| Chief Inspector | 56 | 2 | 58 |
| Inspector | 161 | 7 | 168 |
| Sergeant | 666 | 31 | 697 |
| Constable | 3,489 | 339 | 3,828 |
| Total | 4,419 | 379 | 4,798 |
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the total cost of reorganising the Ministry of Defence police into geographical divisions; and from which subheads of which votes this money was taken.
Reorganising the MOD police into geographical divisions took place on 1 October 1988 as part of a larger major reorganisation of headquarters and higher management, the costs of which, and compensating savings, fell across a number of subheads and cannot be separately identified.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what access the Ministry of Defence police have to the police national computer.
The MOD police do not have direct access to the police national computer. Should MDP require a PNC check, this is normally obtained through the Home Department police force in whose area the MDP station concerned is situated.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) male and (b) female personnel of the Ministry of Defence police are currently in (i) married quarters and (ii) single persons' accommodation provided by his Department.
The figures are as follows:
| Occupying married quarters | Occupying single accommodation | |
| Male Officers | 771 | 1107 |
| Female Officers | 15 | 122 |
| 1 Excludes those officers on initial training courses at the MOD police training school. | ||
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the policy of his Department regarding the acceptance by members of the Ministry of Defence police of awards given by (i) British and (ii) non-British organisations.
The policy on the granting and receiving of honours and awards to and by members of the Ministry of Defence police is the same as it is for all Crown servants. Rules relating to the acceptance and wearing by Crown servants of awards conferred by foreign states are laid down by the Foreign Office under the Foreign and Commonwealth Order, regulations A and B.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Ministry of Defence police are consulted during the drafting of new military lands byelaws.
Yes.