To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to improve the performance of (a) Southend Police and (b) Essex Police following the Police Performance Assessment 2006-07 produced by her Department and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary; and if she will make a statement. (174044)

Assessments are made for all 43 police forces in England and Wales and in seven key areas. Forces are assigned the clear judgments “excellent”, “good”, “fair” and “poor” and—for three of these areas—a judgment of “improved”, “stable” or “deteriorated” is also made.

Essex's assessment in each area was as follows:

Tackling crime—Good

Serious crime and public protection—Good

Protecting vulnerable people—Fair

Satisfaction and fairness—Fair

Neighbourhood policing—Fair

Local priorities—Good

Resources and efficiency—Good.

Essex's assessment for direction of travel was:

Tackling crime—Stable

Satisfaction and fairness—Stable

Resources and efficiency—Stable.

The Home Office and HMIC will continue to support forces to address the issues highlighted in the assessments.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she has received on the performance of police in (a) Essex and (b) Southend in each of the last seven years; and if she will make a statement. (174067)

I and my predecessors have received numerous representations regarding police forces in England and Wales. In addition, there have been formal reports published relating to the performance of the police service and of Essex police specifically. These can be found on the websites for Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) at:

http://inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmic/inspections/

and the Home Office at:

http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/performance-and-measurement/performance-ssessment/

The most recent police performance assessments were published in October 2007.

The latest HMIC publication regarding Essex police was the phase one Inspection Report (October 2007), and regarding policing in the Southend BCU in the BCU Inspection (September 2003) and Follow-Up Inspection (December 2004).