§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the establishment of the Basingstoke division of the Hampshire constabulary in 1979; and what it is in the present year. [20689]
§ Mr. MacleanI understand from the chief constable that comparable figures for the Basingstoke division are available only from 1984. In 1984 there were 128 police officers in Basingstoke compared with 158 at March 1997, an increase of 23 per cent.
In the whole of the Hampshire constabulary there were 2,955 police officers in May 1979 compared with 3,362 in September 1996, an increase of 407 or 14 per cent.