§ Mr. Leighasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the numbers of police officers recruited in the last 12 months.
§ Mr. HurdIn the last seven years the total manpower in the police service, police officers and civilians, in England and Wales has increased by about 16,000 to 159,896 on 31 December 1985. Over 11,000 of this increase were police officers and there were 120,702 police officers on 31 December 1985. Over 5,500 officers were recruited in 1985, and there was a net gain of 129, compared with December 1984.