To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people employed by (a) his Department, (b) the agencies for which his Department is responsible and (c) the police earn (i) less than £.20 per hour, (ii) between £3.20 and £3.60 per hour, (iii) between £3.60 and £4 per hour and (iv) between £4 and £4.62 per hour. [30747]

[holding answer 23 February 1998]: For the Home Office and the agencies, the information requested is as follows:

	Range of hourly rates
Department/Agency	(i) less than £3.20	(ii) £3.20 to £3.60	(iii) £3.60 to £4.00	(iv) £4.00 to £4.62
Home Office	0	0	75	328
Prison Service	0	0	258	506
United Kingdom Passport Agency	0	0	506	242
Forensic Science Service	0	0	18	30
Fire Service College	0	0	4	4

No police officers earn less than £4.52 per hour.Seventy-nine police cadets earn less than £3.20 per hour.Figures are not available centrally for total numbers of police civilian staff and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.