§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to place the announcement of twice-yearly police officer number figures for England and Wales on a regular timescale; if the latest figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [108081]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThere are no plans to announce changes to police numbers within a specific timescale. The figures are published as soon as all police forces have submitted the relevant information and it has been validated. Police numbers as at 30 September 1999 will be issued shortly.
§ Mr. AshdownTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many extra police officers there will be in Somerset in each of the next three years as a result of his recent statement of intent to increase national police officer numbers by 5,000; and if he will make a statement. [107796]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeWe are currently assessing the bids which all forces have made under the recruitment scheme of the Crime Fighting Fund to determine whether they meet the criteria laid down in the bidding guidelines which were issued to forces and a copy placed in the Library on 2 December 1999. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will be announcing the results shortly.
§ Mr. AshdownTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the(a) establishment and (b) actual available officer numbers for (i) each English police force and (ii) each Avon and Somerset divisional force for the latest period for which statistics are available; and if he will make a statement. [107841]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeIt is for chief constables to determine the number of officers in each force, within the resources available. The latest available information on the number of officers in each English police force is set out in the table.
Figures showing the authorised strength and actual strength of the eight territorial divisions in the Avon and Somerset Constabulary are are also shown. This information has been provided by the chief constable.
702W
Police numbers—England for 31 March 1999 Force Strength as at 31 March 1999 1 Avon and Somerset 2,999.3 Bedfordshire 1,041.3 Cambridgeshire 1,274.4 Cheshire 2,070.6 City of London 778.1 Cleveland 1,415.6 Cumbria 1,126 Derbyshire 1,758.6 Devon and Cornwall 2,887 Dorset 1,279.1 Durham 1,567.9 Essex 2.890.5 Gloucestershire 1,104.1 Greater Manchester 6,809.9 Hampshire 3,473.4 Hertfordshire 1,723.7 Humberside 1,974.4 Kent 3,200.8 Lancashire 3,244.8
Police numbers—England for 31 March 1999 Force Strength as at 31 March 1999 1 Leicestershire 1,993.2 Lincolnshire 1,139.6 Merseyside 4,211 Metropolitan Police 26,073.1 Norfolk 1,381.4 Northamptonshire 1,137.5 Northumbria 3,840.2 North Yorkshire 1,336.5 Nottinghamshire 2,224.6 South Yorkshire 3,168 Staffordshire 2,237.6 Suffolk 1,190,2 Surrey 1,661.9 Sussex 2,846.8 Thames Valley 3,748.1 Warwickshire 907.7 West Mercia 2,024.7 West Midlands 7,320.8 West Yorkshire 4,982 Wiltshire 1,151 1 Full-time equivalents
Avon and Somerset Constabulary—police numbers by divisions as at 30 September 1999 Force division Authorised strength Actual strength for 30 September 1999 Central Bristol 348 341 South Bristol 243 238 North Bristol 247 245 South Gloucestershire 253 254 Bath and North East Somerset 209 209 East Somerset 238 239 West Somerset 282 280 North Somerset 197 196
§ Mr. FraserTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the total number of police officers in England and Wales on 31 January. [108292]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeInformation on police numbers is collected twice a year (March and September). Police strength figures as at 31 March 1999 were 126,096; figures as at 30 September will be published shortly.