§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables are serving, and what the total was on 1 May 1997, broken down by individual police authorities; how many special constables(a) were recruited to each police authority in each year since 1997 and (b) left; what regulations govern the method of recruitment and enlistment of special constables, and whether they vary between police area; and how long a gap there was on average in the last 12 months between a potential special constable's volunteering and eventual enlistment, broken down by police area. [65493]
§ Mr. DenhamStatistics on the strength of the special constabulary are collected by the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate for the end of March and September each year.
The tables show the strength of specials, by force, in 1997 and 2001 and details, by force, of recruitment and wastage for each year since 1997.
The Special Constables Regulations 1965 (as amended) specify that a person appointed as a special must have attained the age of 18 years and be of good character and health. Beyond that, the regulations leave qualification for appointment to the discretion of the chief officer. However, the Home Office has issued guidance on the eligibility and recruitment of specials, in particular, Home Office Circular 12/2000, copies of which have been lodged with the Library.
Information on time taken between the application and appointment of specials is not collected centrally.
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Special constable strength by police force area March 1997 September 1997 March 2001 September 2001 Avon and Somerset 759 629 400 391 Bedfordshire 182 186 115 119 Cambridgeshire 303 336 218 197 Cheshire 475 491 290 233 Cleveland 160 157 93 98 Cumbria 189 184 156 125 Derbyshire 428 414 275 263 Devon and Cornwall 1,148 1,079 796 780 Dorset 289 325 267 258 Durham 184 178 146 146 Essex 634 641 445 413 Gloucestershire 297 287 183 153 Greater Manchester 685 657 367 355 Hampshire 621 681 454 444 Hertfordshire 297 306 198 177 Humberside 340 348 212 207 Kent 589 588 392 366 Lancashire 483 500 360 325 Leicestershire 415 402 162 155 Lincolnshire 271 273 166 160 City of London 86 84 43 34
Special constable strength by police force area March 1997 September 1997 March 2001 September 2001 Merseyside 401 407 541 507 Metropolitan police 1,714 1,528 774 753 Norfolk 402 346 259 240 Northamptonshire 316 314 188 184 Northumbria 533 480 300 276 North Yorkshire 362 337 182 186 Nottinghamshire 620 597 335 281 South Yorkshire 308 295 188 189 Staffordshire 685 643 402 395 Suffolk 379 300 349 322 Surrey 297 231 149 176 Sussex 472 465 306 301
Recruitment and wastage 1997–2001–-specials recruitment/wastage in the 12 months to 31 March, by force (England and Wales) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Police force Recruitment Wastage Recruitment Wastage Recruitment Wastage Recruitment Wastage Recruitment Wastage Avon and Somerset 203 171 138 140 98 172 38 126 57 124 Bedfordshire 35 29 39 31 II 42 17 20 7 43 Cambridgeshire 106 53 103 86 62 36 58 76 43 79 Cheshire 272 71 140 119 64 119 15 59 4 58 Cleveland 16 29 25 21 39 22 13 27 7 10 Cumbria 30 41 39 31 40 28 18 46 7 25 Derbyshire 105 54 62 110 29 92 30 65 46 53 Devon and Cornwall 194 162 192 256 158 179 119 139 87 131 Dorset 70 25 90 42 54 50 48 31 22 48 Durham 47 49 41 41 47 37 36 30 34 43 Essex 185 154 173 165 84 130 61 106 92 128 Gloucestershire 34 51 33 48 12 55 20 38 13 36 Greater Manchester 156 217 94 181 66 141 73 139 41 131 Hampshire 235 88 222 128 252 190 90 235 50 177 Hertfordshire 61 74 53 43 33 62 31 42 27 41 Humberside 61 108 44 61 138 85 18 30 12 43 Kent 220 102 202 199 138 203 89 179 102 143 Lancashire 182 230 97 87 60 90 41 75 36 58 Leicestershire 84 31 61 70 17 107 25 94 0 85 Lincolnshire 46 50 60 66 27 71 14 30 8 40 City of London 32 23 22 32 17 29 8 14 0 15 Merseyside 145 61 141 58 111 52 55 24 77 57 Metropolitan police 191 246 127 264 7 94 1 39 41 29 Norfolk 154 71 64 129 84 83 36 86 35 61 Northamptonshire 89 68 39 63 26 76 35 76 53 64 Northumbria 121 60 63 153 72 103 60 71 58 79 North Yorkshire 96 40 68 72 32 114 32 114 25 60 Nottinghamshire 200 112 69 131 70 126 24 32 0 0 South Yorkshire 40 115 50 76 53 99 24 69 37 55 Staffordshire 120 140 69 108 55 121 64 58 17 91 Suffolk 56 78 86 69 107 92 90 119 55 97 Surrey 49 15 46 60 44 29 23 56 28 33 Sussex 76 116 105 134 55 83 41 82 27 58 Thames Valley 192 168 119 100 85 95 49 100 51 108 Warwickshire 65 64 66 119 44 128 44 128 0 41 West Mercia 66 72 72 79 81 71 61 50 64 334 West Midlands 398 350 213 243 145 206 115 116 120 150 West Yorkshire 207 221 81 200 117 130 163 180 102 126 Wiltshire 1— 39 36 22 61 25 23 34 45 66 Dyfed-Powys 57 89 80 112 29 46 21 44 24 45 Gwent 13 18 0 46 13 20 16 10 38 17 North Wales 119 35 57 52 38 56 10 82 11 18 South Wales 80 179 79 74 48 64 18 37 37 33 Total all forces 4.908 4,169 3,660 4.321 2,823 3,853 1.867 3,208 1.640 3,133 1Not available.
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in each of the last five years the Metropolitan police has lost the files of those seeking to enlist as special constables. [65612]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that current records indicate there have been no missing files during the course of 2002. Information is not centrally available to the Metropolitan police service in order to indicate the position regarding the proceeding four years.
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Special constable strength by police force area March 1997 September1997 March 2001 September 2001 Thames Valley 656 694 418 377 Warwickshire 381 379 221 208 West Mercia 582 558 399 364 West Midlands 945 949 617 604 West Yorkshire 690 604 415 371 Wiltshire 154 150 152 160 Dyfed Powys 283 241 191 174 Gwent 157 149 137 148 North Wales 341 388 207 203 South Wales 361 362 254 250 Total all forces 19,874 19,163 12,722 12,068
§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the establishment is of the Honourable Artillery Company's Metropolitan Special Constabulary; what its strength is; how many constables enlisted in each year since 1997; and what the delay between recruitment and enlistment was. [65611]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis informs me that there is no specific establishment figure for the Metropolitan Special Constabulary Unit associated with the Honourable Artillery Company. The current strength of the unit is 14 special constables. It is understood that three special 1075W constables have joined the unit since 1997, but data on their year of joining or how long it took to process these individuals is not centrally available to the Metropolitan police service.