§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (i) police officers and (ii) immigration officers were based at each port in England and Wales in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [77280]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienOperational deployment of police officers is a matter for the Chief Constable. Details of the number of police based at ports in England and Wales is not collated centrally.
The number of immigration officers, including assistant immigration officers, based at ports in England and Wales as at 1 January 1997,1998 and 1999 is set out in the table. Immigration officers at some of these locations attend both airports and seaports. Other ports in England and Wales which do not have permanently based staff are covered as required.
We are in the process of appointing over 200 additional immigration officers and assistant immigration officers as part of the package of measures designed to deliver the objectives set out in the Government's White Paper.
1 January 1997 1 January 1998 1 January 1999 Heathrow 775.5 759.0 694.9 Dover ports 295.4 274.0 265.9 Gatwick 290.5 294.3 282.4 Waterloo 115.0 110.0 102.8 Manchester airport 60.6 63.7 66.3 Stansted airport 46.6 47.8 47.8 Birmingham airport 37.8 35.5 32.1 Harwich 34.0 34.0 33.1 Portsmouth 28.0 29.0 29.0 Luton 19.1 18.1 17.3 Tyne ports 17.1 16.0 16.0 Newhaven 16.7 15.7 16.0 East Midlands airport 14.0 13.0 13.0 London City airport 13.5 13.1 13.3 Leeds Bradford 11.6 12.6 12.6 Southampton 10.8 9.0 9.0 Bristol 10.0 10.0 9.8 Cardiff 9.0 9.0 9.0 Hull 9.0 9.0 9.0 Liverpool 8.0 8.0 8.0 Plymouth 7.5 8.6 8.6 Stockton 7.0 6.6 6.4 Norwich 5.0 5.0 5.0 Felixstowe 5.0 3.0 3.0 Poole 4.0 4.0 4.0 Bournemouth 4.0 4.0 3.0 South Humberside 3.6 3.6 3.6 Brize Norton 3.0 3.0 3.0 Mildenhall 3.0 3.0 3.0 Swansea 2.0 2.0 2.0 Southend 1.0 1.0 1.0 Cambridge 1.0 1.0 1.0 Total 1,868.3 1,825.6 1,730.8