§ Mr. HopeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he intends to accelerate police recruitment under the Crime Fighting Fund; and if he will make a statement. [122564]
§ Mr. StrawI announced in the reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Elmet (Mr. Burgon) on 9 February 2000,Official Report, column 172W, that all 43 forces in England and Wales had successfully bid for a share of the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) to recruit 5,000 police officers over and above the number they had otherwise planned to recruit over the next three years commencing April 2000. These were to be phased on the basis of 1,000 recruits this year (2000–01), 2,000 in 2001–02 and 2,000 in 2002–03. I also gave details of the number of police officers each force had been allocated.
Since then, and as a result of the funding decisions outlined by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget, I was able to announce in my reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South (Mr. Cunningham) on 27 March 2000, Official Report, columns 1–3W, that part of the £91 million provided in the Budget for modernising the police service in England and Wales would be used to accelerate the CFF with a view to delivering the 5,000 recruits within the first two years of the scheme.
I have consulted the police service and police authority representatives and I am now pleased to announce that forces will be able to recruit up to a maximum of 3,000 new recruits in year one of the scheme (2000–01), rather than 1,000 as announced in February, and the remaining 2,000 in year two (2001–02). Tripling the number which can be recruited during the current financial year will cost about £24 million above and beyond the £35 million which has already been provided for the current allocation. Further decisions on funding for the police service for 2001–04 will be announced as part of the Spending Review 2000 in the summer.
The table shows the revised distribution of officers allocated to each force under the accelerated scheme.
My officials have today written to each chief constable and each police authority to explain the funding arrangements under the scheme. I have placed a copy of the letter in the Library.
The funding for each force will be determined once each force has provided a profile of their planned recruitment during the first year. This will help ensure that funding can be maintained for forces to recruit up to the maximum in year one. Forces are also being given the opportunity, by prior agreement, to revise their 172W CFF allocations if they are experiencing difficulty in recruitment by deferring part of their allocation to year two and those who are able to, to accelerate some of their year two allocation into year one. No force will be able to exceed its overall total CFF allocation and any increase may be limited by the total CFF budget for year one.
Revised share of 5,000 recruits Forces 2000–01 Year 1 2001–02 Year 2 Total Avon and Somerset 67 34 101 Bedfordshire 28 27 55 Cambridgeshire 37 5 42 Cheshire 47 39 86 City of London 8 0 8 Cleveland 20 8 28 Cumbria 25 15 40 Derbyshire 49 52 101 Devon and Cornwall 77 61 138 Dorset 29 17 46 Durham 36 15 51 Dyfed-Powys 25 25 50 Essex 70 33 103 Gloucestershire 29 23 52 Greater Manchester 186 192 378 Gwent 31 12 43 Hampshire 82 51 133 Hertfordshire 40 5 45 Humberside 47 27 74 Kent 82 64 146 Lancashire 75 51 126 Leicestershire 46 37 83 Lincolnshire 29 12 41 Merseyside 105 96 201 Metropolitan 663 450 1,113 Norfolk 35 31 66 North Wales 34 28 62 North Yorkshire 20 5 25 Northamptonshire 32 21 53 Northumbria 85 51 136 Nottinghamshire 52 35 87 South Wales 59 9 68 South Yorkshire 67 34 101 Staffordshire 49 34 83 Suffolk 31 14 45 Surrey 46 32 78 Sussex 69 43 112 Thames Valley 111 89 200 Warwickshire 21 9 30 West Mercia 50 39 89 West Midlands 173 137 310 West Yorkshire 107 24 131 Wiltshire 26 14 40 Total 3,000 2,000 5,000