§ Mr. Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people served in the special constabulary of each police force in each of the past five years for which figures are available. [89552]
§ Mr. BoatengAs at 31 March, the figures for the number of special constables in post in each police force area in England and Wales for the past five years were:
331W
Force 1995 1996 1997 1998 19991 Avon and Somerset 651 688 759 621 547 Bedfordshire 189 189 182 186 154 Cambridgeshire 279 275 303 320 310 Cheshire 321 274 475 459 407 City of London 83 77 86 76 64 Cleveland 212 195 160 164 126 Cumbria 241 201 188 198 204 Derbyshire 434 413 428 380 317 Devon and Cornwall 1,142 1,102 1,148 1,024 918 Dorset 221 254 289 315 305 Durham 200 187 184 144 159 Dyfed-Powys 302 314 283 254 237 Essex 674 608 634 638 544
Force 1995 1996 1997 1998 19991 Gloucestershire 320 333 297 276 233 Greater Manchester 768 746 685 598 523 Gwent 126 136 157 119 113 Hampshire 598 539 621 698 760 Hertfordshire 320 315 297 306 238 Humberside 427 391 340 324 269 Kent 569 555 589 592 526 Lancashire 608 531 483 489 449 Leicestershire 356 360 415 406 316 Lincolnshire 322 299 271 260 216 Merseyside 384 343 401 419 458 Metropolitan Police 1,550 1,841 1,714 1,282 1,138 Norfolk 345 319 402 337 336 Northamptonshire 303 289 316 288 230 Northumbria 506 471 533 400 342 North Wales 288 332 341 358 400 North Yorkshire 381 360 362 358 276 Nottinghamshire 552 537 620 558 461 South Wales 477 461 361 366 338 South Yorkshire 452 381 308 281 246 Staffordshire 725 702 685 595 468 Suffolk 409 407 379 397 420 Surrey 238 260 297 235 224 Sussex 527 511 472 442 393 Thames Valley 679 744 656 609 569 Warwickshire 352 344 381 345 261 West Mercia 582 613 552 512 515 West Midlands 818 897 945 889 731 West Yorkshire 777 709 690 589 559 Wiltshire 318 233 154 149 184 Total 20,026 19,736 19,734 18,256 16,484 1The figures for 31 March 1999 are provisional