§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the measures to address the decline in the number of special constables since April 1999. [145609]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkePolice manpower figures are collected by the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate every six months—as at 30 September and 31 March each year. The total number of special constables as at 31 March 1999 was recorded as 16,484. The latest statistics, recorded at 30 September 2000, show the total number of specials to be 13,528. During this same period, 2,603 specials have been recruited and 4,439 have left the service.
Figures indicate that the number of specials has been in decline since 1993, with both numbers recruited and numbers leaving the service showing a general downward trend. The numbers leaving the special constabulary has, however, continued to approximate or outstrip those recruited. The problem evidenced appeared to be one of retention, therefore, rather than recruitment.
116WResearch was completed last year into the premature wastage of special constables and recommendations made. The research found that the primary reasons given for leaving were often external to the service, but that there were some underlying factors contributing to the decision to resign. The recommendations therefore included improving: the flexibility of duties and hours offered; the management structure within which specials operate; the quality of training provided locally; and local efforts to monitor and prevent wastage. The Home Office is exploring all of the recommendations from this research with the Police Service and Association of Police Authorities.
With retention in mind, insurance to provide legal representation for specials was introduced on 27 June 2000, applying to incidents taking place on or after that date. The insurance company providing the service has been asked to provide an assessment of the scheme at the next meeting of the Special Constabulary Standing Committee in March 2001. New conditions of service for special constables and new misconduct regulations are also under development.
§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables(a) were recruited by each police force and (b) left the service between 30 September 1999 and 2000; and if he will make a statement on the number of special constables. [145087]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe number of special constables who were recruited to and left each of the police force special constabularies between 30 September 1999 and 30 September 2000 is set out in the table.
117W
Force Recruited Left Avon and Somerset 58 124 Bedfordshire 6 20 Cambridgeshire 50 92 Cheshire 7 62 Cleveland 4 17 Cumbria 11 36 Derbyshire 45 62 Devon and Cornwall 81 100 Dorset 38 39 Durham 35 40 Dyfed-Powys 23 40 Essex 78 117 Gloucestershire 20 44 Greater Manchester 37 127 Gwent 30 9 Hampshire 45 224 Hertfordshire 28 44 Humberside 16 53 Kent 84 152 Lancashire 37 71 Leicestershire 7 108 Lincolnshire 3 41 London, City of 0 20 Merseyside 47 78 Metropolitan police 0 0 Norfolk 23 70 Northamptonshire 39 67 Northumbria 66 74 North Wales 11 25 North Yorkshire 13 40 Nottinghamshire 11 11 South Wales 20 69 South Yorkshire 25 35 Staffordshire 61 77 Suffolk 63 79
Force Recruited Left Surrey 43 54 Sussex 30 72 Thames Valley 46 104 Warwickshire 3 0 West Mercia 27 44 West Midlands 128 144 West Yorkshire 120 166 Wiltshire 35 45 Total 1,554 2,893 Source:
Research Development and Statistics Directorate, Home Office.