§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the Official Report for all police officers (a) average earnings for 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81 and 1981–82 and (b) the total numbers employed for the same years.
§ Mr. MayhewI regret that information is not available in the form requested in the first part of the question. The annual basic pay of police officers during this period was as follows:
327W
September 1978 September 1979 September 1980 September 1981 Rank Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ Below Superitendent 645 1,376 743 1,503 931 1,814 1,134 2,272 Superintendents and Chief Superintendents 721 1,595 862 1,738 1,080 2,105 1,315 2,635 Assistant and Deputy Chief Constables, Commanders and Deputy Assistant Commissioners 865 1,850 1,000 2,016 1,253 2,442 1,523 3,057 Chief Constables, Assistant and Deputy Commissioners 1,003 2,146 1,160 2,339 1,453 2,832 1,770 3,546 Officers below the rank of superintendent receive additional payments at enhanced rates of any overtime worked and officers on certain specialist duties receive additional allowances.
The number of police officers in England and Wales on 31 August was 107,654 in 1978, 112,685 in 1979, 115,675 in 1980, and 118,820 in 1981.