HC Deb 16 July 1998 vol 316 cc269-71W
Mr. Beith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what proportion of the extra funding from his Department for the police in each of the last three years was allocated to police recruitment and staff expenditure in each police force; and if he will make a statement; [50600]

(2) if validated figures for the number of police officers per police force in England and Wales on 31 March are available. [50603]

Mr. Michael

Information on the number of police officers per police force on 31 March 1998 is contained in the table. It is not known what proportion of the additional £100 million provided by the Government to police forces over the years 1996/97 to 1998/99 has been used for police recruitment and staff expenditure. It is for individual chief constables to determine the number of police officers in their force area, within the total resources available to them. The table shows the changes in police numbers since 31 March 1996.

One of the mistakes of the last Government was to promise increases in police numbers. In the Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994, they handed to chief constables the freedom to decide whether to use available resources on employing police officers or on other expenditure, such as information technology. We attached no condition to the extra £40 million we provided to the police in England and Wales in 1998/99.

Police Manpower
31 March 1996 31 March 1997 31 March 1998
Avon and Somerset 2,981.0 2,988.8 2,975.9
Bedfordshire 1,127.7 1,093.6 1,078.5
Cambridgeshire 1,238.1 1,302.0 1,291.4
Cheshire 1,997.9 2,045.5 2,035.9
City of London 869.5 858.9 824.9
Cleveland 1,420.3 1,459.3 1,483.4
Cumbria 1,115.0 1,143.5 1,163.5
Derbyshire 1,763.1 1,790.6 1,772.2
Devon and Cornwall 2,898.9 2,864.5 2,961.5
Dorset 1,263.0 1,284.0 1,310.0
Durham 1,401.0 1,460.5 1,514.8
Dyfed-Powys 991.0 1,004.5 1,002.3
Essex 2,884.3 2,960.7 2,928.5
Gloucestershire 1,132.7 1,132.6 1,103.9
Greater Manchester 6,938.0 6,921.6 6,948.7
Gwent 1,043.5 1,243.0 1,232.8
Hampshire 3,347.1 3,451.7 3,489.5
Hertfordshire 1,712.0 1,759.1 1,739.9
Humberside 2,041.0 2,045.0 2,021.2
Kent 3,120.1 3,260.1 3,251.8
Lancashire 3,171.0 3,247.5 3,257.1
Leicestershire 1,908.3 1,948.8 1,983.1
Lincolnshire 1,144.6 1,196.4 1,191.1
Merseyside 4,411.0 4,230.4 4,217.4
Metropolitan Police 27,343.0 26,677.3 26,192.7
Norfolk 1,401.0 1,431.6 1,429.6
Northamptonshire 1,152.5 1,176.7 1,168.7
Northumbria 3,668.3 3,676.8 3,766.7
North Wales 1,377.5 1,369.0 1,396.0
North Yorkshire 1,324.4 1,337.6 1,367.2
Nottinghamshire 2,317.7 2,323.4 2,322.6
South Wales 3,027.0 2,975.9 2,986.2
South Yorkshire 3,073.1 3,158.7 3,182.0
Staffordshire 2,208.8 2,211.1 2,292.1
Suffolk 1,137.8 1,179.7 1,185.8
Surrey 1,643.8 1,619.5 1,608.4
Sussex 3,073.5 3,084.9 3,037.7
Thames Valley 3,674.0 3,695.0 3,775.5
Warwickshire 979.0 925.9 924.1
West Mercia 2,016.8 2,040.2 2,011.8
West Midlands 7,145.1 7,112.7 7,156.5
West Yorkshire 5,142.0 5,208.8 5,154.7
Wiltshire 1,218.5 1,154.3 1,148.3
Total 124,843.9 125,051.7 124,885.9

Mr. Beith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of police officers per head of population, (i) per police force and (ii) in total for the last date for which figures are available and in each of the three preceding years. [50597]

Mr. Michael

The information requested is set out in the table.

The population figures are those provided by the Office for National Statistics. For 1997–98, the population figures used are the same as for 1996–97 (mid 1996); mid 1997 population figures will not be available until later this year.

Head of population per police officer by police force area
Police force 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–981
Avon and Somerset 486 491 491 493
Bedfordshire 482 484 502 509
Cambridgeshire 545 560 540 545
Cheshire 505 490 479 481
City of London 6 6 6 6
Cleveland 390 394 382 376
Cumbria 420 440 429 422
Derbyshire 531 543 537 543
Devon and Cornwall 533 532 539 521
Dorset 523 537 531 521
Durham 449 434 416 401
Dyfed-Powys 485 478 475 476
Essex 513 522 511 517
Gloucestershire 472 488 491 504
Greater Manchester 366 372 372 371
Gwent 454 434 447 451
Hampshire 531 520 508 502
Hertfordshire 501 501 491 496
Humberside 438 436 434 439
Kent 496 497 478 479
Lancashire 443 450 439 437
Leicestershire 499 484 476 468
Lincolnshire 505 535 515 517
Merseyside 308 324 336 337
Metropolitan Police 271 274 284 289
Norfolk 551 551 543 543
Northamptonshire 515 520 514 517
Northumbria 400 392 390 381
North Wales 481 478 479 470
North Yorkshire 559 552 549 537
Nottinghamshire 445 445 444 444
South Wales 441 440 414 413
South Yorkshire 429 424 413 410
Staffordshire 473 478 477 461
Suffolk 545 577 561 558
Surrey 460 472 480 483
Sussex 494 476 477 485
Thames Valley 524 557 559 547
Warwickshire 490 509 541 542
West Mercia 546 552 548 556
West Midlands 374 369 372 369
West Yorkshire 417 410 405 409
Wiltshire 465 485 514 517
Total 412 415 416 416
1Based on provisional police strength figures as at 31 March 1998