To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police response vehicles are available (a) in each London borough and (b) to the British Transport Police; and if he will make a statement. [117689]
The number of police response vehicles available in each London borough is set out in the table. The three British Transport Police operational areas covering London (which police an area larger than that covered by the London boroughs) have 21 response cars and 17 response motorcycles.
| London borough | Instant response vehicles | Area cars | Total |
| Barking and Dagenham | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Barnet | 20 | 3 | 23 |
| Bexley | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| Brent | 15 | 2 | 17 |
| Bromley | 11 | 3 | 14 |
| Camden | 12 | 5 | 17 |
| Croydon | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| Ealing | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| Enfield | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Greenwich | 12 | 5 | 17 |
| Hackney | 11 | 5 | 16 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 8 | 3 | 11 |
| Haringey | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| Harrow | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| Havering | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| Hillingdon | 10 | 4 | 14 |
| Hounslow | 12 | 2 | 14 |
| Islington | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| Kingston | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| Lambeth | 21 | 6 | 27 |
| Lewisham | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| Merton | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| Newham | 10 | 5 | 15 |
| Redbridge | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| Richmond | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| Southwark | 21 | 6 | 27 |
| Sutton | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| Tower Hamlets | 10 | 4 | 14 |
| Waltham Forest | 9 | 5 | 14 |
| Wandsworth | 14 | 4 | 18 |
| Westminster | 17 | 4 | 21 |
| Heathrow | 7 | — | 7 |
| Total | 353 | 112 | 465 |
Note:
All the above vehicles are classed by the Metropolitan police as "response vehicles", However, there are many other vehicles used in Boroughs that also respond to calls e.g. vans, panda cars, CID cars.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police response vehicles have been in road accidents while on operational duty in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002; and if he will make a statement. (20617)
The number of accidents in England and Wales involving police vehicles which were engaged in immediate/emergency response or pursuit at the time of the accident, are as follows:
| Number of accidents | |
| 2000–01 | 6,019 |
| 2001–02 | 4,985 |
Notes:
1. The information is provided by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, to which forces submit statistical returns.
2. All figures are for financial years.
3. Figures for 2002–03 are not yet available.
4. Two forces did not submit a return in 2001–02.
The Government welcome the recognition by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) that they must work to reduce the number of collisions involving police vehicles.
ACPO are working closely with the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) to identify why they occur and how they might be avoided. Useful information can be expected from the increasing use by forces of Automatic Data Recorders (ADR) and Vehicle Accident Data Recorders (VADR). These operate in a similar way to aircraft black boxes, providing data on such issues as speed, gear changes, braking, and the use of blue lights.