§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of firefighting staff were women in each of the last five years, in each fire service. [61853]
§ Mr. RaynsfordAll fire services in England and Wales are required to provide annually to Her Majesty's fire service inspectorate statistical information about personnel employed, analysed by gender and ethnic origin. The table provides the percentage of the total number of firefighters in each fire service who are female (whole time and retained services combined), based on the statistical returns for the years 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2001.490W
Percentage of firefighters in post at 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2001—female Per cent. 19971 19981 19991 20001 20011 Avon 1.04 1.05 1.16 1.16 1.13 Bedfordshire and Luton 2.22 2.91 3.14 2.78 3.23 Buckinghamshire 3.85 2.40 1.79 3.00 1.83 Cambridgeshire 1.98 1.60 1.59 1.91 1.70 Cheshire 0.86 0.74 0.62 0.49 0.62 Cleveland 0.14 0.00 0.00 0.15 0.00 Cornwall 0.34 0.34 0.66 0.83 0.81 County Durham and Darlington 0.53 0.72 0.71 0.54 1.08 Cumbria 0.70 0.70 0.97 1.12 1.41 Derbyshire 1.16 1.53 1.56 1.85 2.04 Devon 0.99 1.62 1.88 1.89 1.73 Dorset 0.47 0.47 0.47 1.11 1.75 East Sussex 1.61 1.50 1.61 1.65 2.37 Essex 0.29 0.29 0.36 0.36 0.79 Gloucestershire 1.57 1.41 2.76 3.09 3.88 Greater Manchester2 0.13 0.14 0.09 0.09 0.14 Hampshire 0.68 0.81 0.89 1.36 1.59 Hereford and Worcester 1.61 0.58 1.34 1.44 2.25 Hertfordshire 0.60 0.71 0.73 1.18 0.85 Humberside 0.70 0.68 0.68 0.88 1.04 Isle of Wight 1.36 1.34 1.40 1.35 1.85 Isles of Scilly 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.27 0.00 Kent 0.30 0.41 0.83 1.28 1.52 Lancashire 0.81 0.95 0.99 1.07 1.30 Leicestershire 0.70 0.69 0.99 1.11 1.23 Lincolnshire 2.23 2.98 1.96 2.35 2.23 London 1.01 1.04 1.14 1.16 1.23 Merseyside 0.13 0.27 0.27 0.35 0.37 Mid and West Wales 0.78 1.04 1.02 1.01 1.76 Norfolk 0.97 1.10 0.82 1.08 1.46 North Wales 0.96 0.96 1.10 1.90 1.60 North Yorkshire 1.49 1.38 2.16 2.47 2.61 Northamptonshire 1.38 1.35 1.36 1.55 1.55 Northumberland 0.79 0.77 1.33 1.79 2.28 Nottinghamshire 0.65 0.67 1.52 1.41 1.40 Oxfordshire 2.45 3.16 3.93 4.24 3.94 Royal Berkshire 0.85 1.19 1.20 1.05 0.88 Shropshire 1.26 1.48 1.04 1.00 1.21 Somerset 0.37 0.37 0.74 0.73 1.25 South Wales 0.45 0.50 0.58 0.71 0.70 South Yorkshire 0.10 0.41 0.62 1.42 1.52 Staffordshire 1.92 2.03 1.65 1.99 2.47 Suffolk 0.88 0.90 1.22 1.40 1.99 Surrey 1.28 1.50 1.94 2.14 2.14 Tyne and Wear 0.00 0.10 0.10 0.38 0.68 Warwickshire 1.18 1.44 1.50 1.93 2.77 West Midlands 0.39 0.34 0.39 0.54 1.18 West Sussex 1.21 1.25 2.14 2.79 3.04 West Yorkshire 0.36 0.47 0.47 0.49 0.43 Wiltshire 1.13 1.31 1.32 1.50 1.79 Average 0.84 0.90 1.04 1.22 1.39 1As at 31 March 2Two firefighters are excluded from the 31 March 2001 percentage as their gender was not known.