To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice he has issued to chief constables on the (a) recruitment and (b) use of community support officers. [122882]
The recruitment and deployment of community support officers (CSOs) is a matter for chief officers. In December 2002 the Home Office issued a "Frequently Asked Questions" document which gave some advice on these issues. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has also published a more detailed guidance document on CSOs, with material on both recruitment and deployment. This guidance is available to chief officers on the ACPO intranet site.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of community support officers. [125107]
The 27 forces who received first round Community Support Officer (CSO) funding are required to carry out a formal evaluation of their schemes. I expect to receive their initial findings by the end of September. In addition to this I have already received a significant amount of informal evidence, such
| Consultation papers launched in 2001 | ||
| Title | Number of responses | Available figures for cost (£) |
| Animal Procedures—review of the Ethical Review Process | 139 | 35,000 |
| Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000—New Laws for a successful Multi-Racial Britain | 302 | 30,000 |
| Review of the victims Charter | n/a | n/a |
| The Law on Extradition: a review | 15 | 82,000 |
| Animal Rights Extremism: Government Strategy: A Consultation | 55 | n/a |
| The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 A consultation leaflet | 95 | 2,155 |
| Guidance for the use of an Intermediary under s.29 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 | 86 | 80,617 |
| Funding Community Groups: a consultation document | 235 | 3,742 |
| The Halliday Report—Making punishments work | 305 | 75,000 |
| Consultation of use of X/Gamma Radiation Scanner. | n/a | n/a |
| Extension of Civil Penalties to Freight Shuttle Wagons | n/a | n/a |
| Consultation Paper on the Review of Part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 | 46 | 50,000 plus |
| Accessing Communications data—draft code of practice | n/a | n/a |
| Police and Criminal Evidence Act—Code F | 10 | n/a |
| Ratification of the Driving Disqualification Convention | 46 | n/a |
| Review of Family Visitors Appeals | n/a | n/a |
as letters from members of the public, indicating that CSOs have been a great success in combating low level crime and reassuring the public.