§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on police officer manning levels in the West Yorkshire Police Authority area. [135876]
§ Ms BlearsDecisions on the balance between police officers and police (support) staff is a matter for the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police (Mr. Colin Cramphorn). At the end of August West Yorkshire Police had 5,169 police officers. This is 140 more than in March 2003 and 280 more than in March 2002. I understand that the force has forecast strength for 31 March 2004 at 5,286 officers. In March 2003 the force had 2,538 police (support) staff, which is 174 more than in March 2002.
Additionally, West Yorkshire Police had 96 Community Support Officers on 31 August, with plans to have 160 by March 2004.