§ Mr. BoyesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide a table depicting police force strength in numbers of officers for all regions of the United Kingdom and the percentage increases or decreases these figures represent from 1979 to the latest available date.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggMy right hon. Friend has responsibility only for England and Wales, for which the information is as follows:
389W
Region and force May 1979 January 1988 Increase Per cent. West Mercia 1,752 1,948 +196 11.2 West Midlands 6,031 6,675 +644 10.7 North East Cleveland 1,347 1,465 +118 8.8 Durham 1,312 1,335 +23 1.8 Humberside 1,861 1,955 +94 5.1 Lincolnshire 1,175 1,174 -1 (0.1) Northumbria 3,285 3,473 +188 5.7 North Yorkshire 1,337 1,379 +42 3.1 South Yorkshire 2,560 2,930 +370 14.5 West Yorkshire 4,739 5,188 +449 9.5 South West Avon and Somerset 2,829 3,009 +180 6.4 Devon and Cornwall 2,667 2,804 +137 5.1 Dorset 1,140 1,243 +103 9.0 Gloucestershire 1,081 1,158 +77 7.1 Wiltshire 1,001 1,093 +92 9.2 South East Bedfordshire 900 997 +97 10.8 Cambridgeshire 1,071 1,160 +89 8.3 City of London 832 784 -48 (5.8) Essex 2,490 2,719 +229 9.2 Hampshire 2,955 3,099 +144 4.9 Hertfordshire 1,455 1,607 +152 10.4 Kent 2,730 2,901 +171 6.3 Metropolitan 22,225 27,449 +5,224 23.5 Norfolk 1,229 1,302 +73 5.9 Suffolk 1,077 1,187 +110 10.2 Surrey 1,442 1,640 +198 13.7 Sussex 2,759 2,871 +112 4.1 Thames Valley 2,653 3,478 +825 31.1 North West Cheshire 1,787 1,839 +52 2.9 Cumbria 1,064 1,150 +86 8.1 Greater Manchester 6,440 6,991 +551 8.6 Lancashire 3,093 3,149 +56 1.8 Merseyside 4,441 4,660 +219 4.9 Wales Dyfed Powys 913 925 +12 1.3 Gwent 971 975 +4 0.4 North Wales 1,269 1,303 +34 2.7 South Wales 2,945 3,119 +174 5.9 England and Wales 109,998 122,131 +12,133 11.0