§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, by force, the current strength and vacancies for police forces in England and Wales and show the numbers of agreed increases in establishment.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe information as at 30 September 1986 is as follows:
445W
Police Force Authorised Establishment Actual strength Vacancies Number of additional posts approved since May 1979 Dorset 1,211 1,198 13 47 Durham 1,357 1,304 53 8 Dyfed Powys 934 925 9 — Essex 2,697 2,682 15 1172 Gloucestershire 1,164 1,158 6 48 Greater Manchester 6,943 6,755 188 208 Gwent 978 971 7 3 Hampshire 3,105 3,074 31 151 Hertfordshire 1,596 1,575 21 63 Humberside 1,972 1,966 6 33 Kent 2,875 2,889 — 155 Lancashire 3,158 3,074 84 40 Leicestershire 1,733 1,730 3 27 Lincolnshire 1,183 1,155 28 1 Merseyside 4,679 4,577 102 228 Norfolk 1,318 1,299 19 53 Northamptonshire 1,054 1,044 10 104 Northumbria 3,378 3,359 19 53 North Wales 1,316 1,276 40 37 North Yorkshire 1,368 1,363 5 40 Nottinghamshire 2,259 2,210 49 114 South Wales 3,109 3,108 1 40 South Yorkshire 2,881 2,857 24 129 Staffordshire 2,131 2,084 47 65 Suffolk 1,186 1,128 58 98 Surrey 1,639 1,614 25 40 Sussex 2,830 2,792 38 28 Thames Valley 3,367 3,386 — 2370 Warwickshire 967 948 19 91 West Mercia 1,953 1,923 30 119 West Midlands 6,684 6,542 142 175 West Yorkshire 5,154 5,134 20 50 Wiltshire 1,049 1,042 7 27 City of London 798 775 23 (-224) Metropolitan 27,515 326,900 615 926 Total 121,674 119,909 1,811 44,200 1 Further increases of 25 posts for Essex and 36 for Kent have been approved with effect from 1 November 1986. 2 Further increases of 50 posts for Thames Valley have been approved with effect from 1 November 1986 and 50 with effect from 1 April 1987. 3 In the Metropolitan police seconded officers, for example, at university or on central services, count against the authorised establishment. The strength figure given includes 94 such officers. 4 The total increase does not take account of the reduction of 224 in the City of London's establishment.