§ Mr. Soleyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total number of uniformed preventive officers employed by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise in each of the years from 1975 to 1985.
§ Mr. BrookeI regret that figures for the number of uniformed preventive officers employed by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise are not available for the years before 1979, but at 1 April for each year from 1979 to 1985 they were as follows:
Number 1979 3,007 1980 2,863 1981 2,695 1982 2,568 1983 2,483 1984 2,419 1985 2,503 At 1 April 1986 the estimated number of uniformed preventive officers was 2,650, and in the current financial year the number is planned to rise to about 3,000.