§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK police officers are seconded to police(a) forces and (b) agencies overseas; which countries are involved; from which forces the officers have been seconded; and what plans there are to send further offices to overseas countries in addition to Iraq. [128318]
§ Ms BlearsEach police force keeps its own records on overseas secondments and comprehensive figures are not held centrally. Figures are available on the number of United Kingdom police officers participating in international peacekeeping and crisis management operations overseas. Contributions to peacekeeping missions and crisis management operations account for the overwhelming majority of police officers seconded from English and Welsh forces to police forces and agencies overseas. On 5 September 2003, the United Kingdom had 195 serving police officers working in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Serbia and Montenegro and Iraq.
Of these 195 police officers, 92 are from English and Welsh police forces and the National Criminal Intelligence Service. All English and Welsh police forces currently have at least one police officer on secondment to overseas peacekeeping missions with the exception of the City of London Police, Cumbria Constabulary, Gwent Police, Hertfordshire Constabulary, Leicestershire Constabulary, Norfolk Constabulary, Nottinghamshire Police, Staffordshire Police, Thames Valley Police and West Mercia Constabulary. The largest number of secondees from any one force in England and Wales is seven.
Contributions from the Ministry of Defence Police, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and Scottish police forces make up the remaining numbers of UK police officers serving on international peacekeeping missions.
Any plans to send police officers from English and Welsh forces to new peacekeeping missions in addition to Iraq will be initiated through a formal request to the Home Office from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I have received no such requests.