HC Deb 19 July 2000 vol 354 cc178-9W
Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total number of police officers and police civilian staff was(a) in England and Wales and (b) in each force on (i) 31 March 2000, (ii) 30 September 1999 and (iii) 31 March 1997; and if he will make a statement. [130027]

Mr. Straw

The information is set out in tables. At the end of March 2000, the total number of police officers in England and Wales was 124,418 and there were 53,227 civilian support staff in the police service. Table VI additionally compares the percentage change in police numbers over the 12 month period 31 March 1999 to 31 March 2000, against the percentage increase in police budgets for 1999–2000 in both cash and real terms.

A reduction in police numbers for March 2000 was forecast in the projections on police numbers in the reply my hon. Friend the Minister of State gave to the hon. Member on 15 March 2000, Official Report, columns 177–79W.

I have already announced my plans to reverse the decline in police numbers. The Crime Fighting Fund was intended to provide funding for the recruitment of 5,000 more officers—3,000 this year and 2,000 next, over and above the number that forces would have planned to recruit over the three years from April 2000. As a result of the Spending Review, we will be making funding available for the recruitment of a further 4,000 officers—making 9,000 in all. The additional 4,000 will come on stream in 2001–02 and 2002–03. So forces will be able to recruit up to a maximum of 3,000 this year, 3,000 next year and 3,000 in 2002–03.

Though numbers are important, tackling crime is more than a matter of police numbers. I am announcing today a major increase in resources for policing to boost police effectiveness. By 2003–04, annual funding will have increased by over 20 per cent.—£1.6 billion of which £1.3 billion is newly announced.

In my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin (Mr. Bradley) on 15 June 2000, Official Report, column 714W, I announced that £15 million had been earmarked from the Police Modernisation Fund this year to enhance the policing of rural areas. Allocation of this new money will be announced very shortly. This extra funding should contribute to a further increase in police numbers in the rural forces.

I am also stepping up efforts to tackle robbery with a cash boost this year from the Police Modernisation Fund. £20 million will be shared between the Metropolitan Police (£9.1 million), West Midlands Police (£3.3 million), Greater Manchester Police (£3.2 million), West Yorkshire Police (£2.6 million) and Merseyside Police (£1.8 million). This additional funding will help these forces fund and develop additional initiatives to tackle robbery in their areas.

The Government's £400 million Crime Reduction Programme, too, has expanded rapidly. The Programme includes:

  • £153 million under the Closed Circuit Television Initiative;
  • £62 million targeted on two million homes in 500 neighbourhoods in England and Wales with high burglary rates;
  • £31 million for the long-term initiative "On Track" aimed at children aged between 4–12 at risk of getting involved in crime;
  • £30 million has been earmarked for problem-oriented or intelligence-led policing projects; and
  • £13 million to enable 70 Youth Inclusion schemes to be set up to prevent youth offending and the associated risk factors.
The various initiatives we have put in place will help the police and local communities work more effectively towards the reduction of crime and make our country a safer place in which to live.

The relevant tables have been placed in the Library.