§ Mr. ToddTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police authorities in England and Wales indicating the number of people in the area served per police officer in each case and ranking the authorities in descending order of population per officer. [2256]
§ Mr. MichaelThe information requested is set out in the table:
345W
Police force Population per police officer1 Suffolk 557 Thames Valley 554 North Yorkshire 546 West Mercia 546 Norfolk 539 Warwickshire 539 Devon and Cornwall 538 Derbyshire 535 Cambridgeshire 533 Dorset 529 Wiltshire 512 Lincolnshire 512 Northamptonshire 509 Essex 509 Hampshire 505 Bedfordshire 499 Avon and Somerset 489 Gloucestershire 488 Hertfordshire 488 North Wales 481 Surrey 478 Cheshire 478 Staffordshire 478 Kent 476 Sussex 474 Leicestershire 474 Dyfed-Powys 472 Gwent 447 Nottinghamshire 444 Lancashire 439 Humberside 435 Cumbria 428 Durham 416 South Yorkshire 413 South Wales 412 West Yorkshire 404 Northumbria 391 Cleveland 383 Greater Manchester 372 West Midlands 371 Merseyside 337 Metropolitan 281 City of London 6 1Based on OPCS population data as at 30 June 1995 and police force numbers as at 31 March 1997.