8. To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had with the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland on police detection rates. (277590)

The Chief Constable reports to the Northern Ireland Policing Board directly on clearance rates. The Police Service of Northern Ireland is committed to improving clearance rates through intelligence-led community policing. The clearance rate in Northern Ireland for 2008-09 was 23 per cent., an increase of 2.5 percentage points on the previous year.