To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the employee contribution rate is to the Police Pension scheme; and if he will make a statement. (111512)

There are two Police Pension schemes in England and Wales; the Police Pension scheme (1987) (PPS) and the new Police Pension scheme (2006) (NPPS) which was introduced for new entrants with effect from 6 April 2006. The employee contribution rate for the PPS is 11 per cent. of pensionable pay (7.5 per cent. if an officer is ineligible for ill-health benefits). The employee contribution rate for the NPPS is 9.5 per cent. of pensionable pay (6 per cent. if an officer is ineligible for ill-health benefits).

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints the police received about the activities of illegal street traders in each of the last 10 years. (111741)

The information requested is not recorded centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2007, Official Report, column 1544W, on the police, if he will place in the Library a list of the police forms which have been eliminated. (111785)

The information on the nearly 9,000 police forms no longer in use, is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost was of police force pensions in each of the last nine years; and what estimate he has made of the cost of police force pensions in each of the next five years. (111927)

Information on the total cost of police pensions in payment for each of the last nine years is not held centrally as the administration of the Police Pension schemes is the responsibility of individual police authorities. Information on financial statistics, including expenditure on police pensions, for police forces is included in the annual reports published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). This information is gathered independently of the Home Office.

The figures given in the following table are the most recently published projections of total future expenditure on police pensions in England and Wales, net of the contributions made by serving officers. These were produced by the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) as part of the consultation process in 2005 on the new system for financing police pensions.

GAD advises that in view of the time elapsed since the figures were produced they should be viewed only as indicative of the likely future trend of police pensions expenditure.

The system for financing police pensions changed on 1 April 2006. Under the new system, police authorities no longer have to meet the cost of pensions in payment out of their operating accounts. Police authorities now have a separate pensions account for this purpose, into which are paid officers' contributions and a new employer's contribution (currently 24.6 per cent. of each officer's pensionable pay). Any shortfall in an authority's pensions account each year is topped up with a grant from central Government; any surplus is recouped. A key benefit of this change is that it takes away from police authorities the responsibility for meeting the rising cost of pensions in payment as a result of increases in the number of pensioners.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 22 January 2007, Official Report, column 1545W, on police community support officers, what evidence he has considered on the effect of the use of stab vests on the safety of employees of the police force. (112589)

[holding answer 30 January 2007]: The Home Office Scientific Development Branch develops and publishes standards for a range of protective equipment for the police and advises police forces and the Government on protective equipment for police use, ensuring that officers have the equipment they need to protect themselves and the public. However the decision on deployment and equipment of PCSOs in each force remains a matter for the chief constable.