§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the planned number of new police officers is in(a) the UK and (b) England for each of the next three years; and what the total number was in Devon and Cornwall in each of the last three years. [130700]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeI am responsible for policing in England and Wales. I cannot therefore provide projections on a UK wide basis.
The projections we have for future years were set out in my reply to the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr. Paterson) on 24 July 2000, Official Report, columns 756–57W.
Police numbers for the Devon and Cornwall constabulary for the last three years are set out as follows:
Devon and Cornwall constabulary Year Police numbers 31 March 1998 2,962 31 March 1999 2,887 31 March 2000 2,841