HC Deb 16 January 2001 vol 361 cc198-200W
Mr. Peter Bottomley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what data he has collated in respect of the Ealing division of the Metropolitan police service on the numbers of ethnic minority officers and civilian staff in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement. [145174]

Mr. Charles Clarke

Information on the numbers of ethnic minority officers and civilian staff in the Ealing division of the Metropolitan police service in each of the past five years has been provided by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, and are shown in the table. The total figures are generally lower than in the original answer. The other details in the original answer were correct.

Year Ealing division Southall division Ealing borough
Police officers from ethnic minority groups1
1996 17 13 30
1997 16 17 33
1998 17 18 35
1999 21 17 38
2000 — — 38
Civilian staff from ethnic minority groups1
1996 30 25 55
1997 30 23 53
1998 27 27 54
1999 27 29 56
2000 — — 53
1 As at 31 December apart from the year 2000, which is as at 6 December. Ealing Southall divisions merged on 1 April 2000.

Miss Widdecombe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of police strength levels in the Metropolitan police service for the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [144964]

Mr. Charles Clarke

[holding answer 15 January 2001]: I understand from the Metropolitan police service (MPS) that the following strength targets have been adopted for the next three years:

Number
2001–021, 2 26,650
2002–031, 2 27,644
2003–041, 2 28,000
1 Figures are full-time equivalents. They include secondments to National Crime Squad, National Criminal Intelligence Service and Central Service but exclude secondments to county forces following the boundary change on 1 April 2000.
2 It is expected that officers seconded to county forces following the 1 April 2000 boundary change will have returned to the MPS by 31 March 2002.

The MPS plans to reach the strength figures shown, but precise strength may be affected by the budget set for the MPS, by changes to projected wastage and by the success of the MPS's recruitment plans.

Mr. Heald

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were on secondment to other police forces and duties from the Metropolitan police service on(a) 1 April 2000 and (b) 30 September 2000. [145099]

Mr. Charles Clarke

[holding answer 15 January 2001]: I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that 950 officers were on secondment on 1 April and 981 officers were on secondment on 30 September 2000. It is standard practice for forces to fill most vacancies that arise from officers on secondment. The table sets out the principal categories under which these secondments are recorded.

Metropolitan police secondments
1 April 2000 30 September 2000
Boundary—Essex 32 31
Boundary—Hertfordshire 183 184
Boundary—Surrey 253 247
NCIS 67 71
National Crime Squad 321 325
Overseas 17 24
Central Service 34 50
Seconded elsewhere 14 14
On attachment 29 35
Total 950 981