HC Deb 23 March 2004 vol 419 cc820-2W
John Thurso

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) traffic enforcement officers, (b) traffic wardens and (c) council parking attendants were operating in each police authority area in each year since 1999–2000. [163130]

Caroline Flint

There is no group specifically designated as traffic enforcement officers. Provision for Highways Agency traffic officers is included in the Traffic Management Bill currently before Parliament.

The number of traffic wardens employed by each of the police authorities in England and Wales for the last four years is given in the table attached.

No record is kept centrally of the number of parking attendants employed by local authorities or by contractors who carry out enforcement on their behalf.

Selected Indicators Traffic Wardens
Values 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
Forces
Avon and Somerset 59 48 44 43
Bedfordshire 9 3 3 2
Cambridgeshire 35 38 36 35
Cheshire 25 20 20 19
City of London 0 0 0 0
Cleveland 13 10 12 7
Cumbria 6 0 0 0
Derbyshire 50 44 50 48
Devon and Cornwall 119 110 101 103
Dorset 41 37 12 0
Durham 22 19 19 15
Dyfed-Powys 14 15 12 13
Essex 102 82 59 38
Gloucestershire 35 30 30 31
Greater Manchester 96 88 87 88
Gwent 30 28 28 27
Hampshire 53 53 31 25
Hertfordshire 38 45 42 35
Humberside 53 51 51 48
Kent 1 0 0 0
Lancashire 94 87 84 50
Leicestershire 67 65 72 61
Lincolnshire 20 21 21 21
Merseyside 106 93 63 52
Metropolitan Police 817 689 632 687
Norfolk 37 33 34 33
Northamptonshire 16 11 7 7
Northumbria 70 72 71 59
North Wales 12 12 8 7
North Yorkshire 19 12 10 0
Nottinghamshire 58 39 30 29
South Wales 100 104 100 99
South Yorkshire 62 71 77 68
Staffordshire 24 17 12 10
Suffolk 31 29 29 25
Surrey 16 25 20 17
Sussex 110 98 62 61
Thames Valley 58 45 51 42
Warwickshire 8 9 9 9
West Mercia 30 23 21 15
West Midlands 175 128 78 74
West Yorkshire 116 107 99 98
Wiltshire 15 7 7 7

Mr. Liddell-Grainger

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many traffic wardens there are in(a) Avon and Somerset and (b)Devon and Cornwall. [161863]

Caroline Flint

The number of traffic wardens employed by the police authorities in(a) Avon and Somerset and (b) Devon and Cornwall for the financial year 2002 to 2003 were 43 and 103 respectively.

Under the provisions of the Road Traffic Act 1991, local authorities can apply for parking restrictions in their areas to be decriminalised and enforced by the authority under civil law. Many have now done so and this has led to a marked decline in traffic warden numbers. In Avon and Somerset the local authorities for Bath & NE Somerset, Taunton Deane, and Bristol now have decriminalised parking enforcement (DPE) schemes. In Devon and Cornwall only Plymouth local authority is covered by DPE powers.