HC Deb 06 December 2001 vol 376 cc477-8W
Mr. Michael Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) police officers and (b) operational police officers per head of population there are in each police authority in England. [15238]

Mr. Denham

The information requested is set out in the table in the form of population per police officer. Operational officers are defined by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary as any member of staff, including covert staff, whose primary role (ie over 50 per cent. of their time) is directly to deliver the overarching aims of the police service. To 'directly deliver', the role must involve routine and immediate interface (either face to face or by telephone) with the public, including covert operations; staff in such roles can be considered as front line service providers.

Police force Population per police officer1 Population per operational police officer1
Avon and Somerset 507 531
Bedfordshire 543 595
Cambridgeshire 559 643
Cheshire 491 555
Cleveland 395 433
Cumbria 469 496
Derbyshire 534 609
Devon and Cornwall 535 566
Dorset 511 540
Durham 380 423
Essex 560 583
Gloucestershire 479 542
Greater Manchester 373 403
Hampshire 518 547

Police force Population per police officer1 Population per operational police officer1
Hertfordshire 543 587
Humberside 460 498
Kent 478 544
Lancashire 438 476
Leicestershire 460 501
Lincolnshire 523 559
London2 285 325
Merseyside 344 380
Norfolk 561 626
Northamptonshire 537 576
Northumbria 368 404
North Yorkshire 573 605
Nottinghamshire 467 490
South Yorkshire 407 467
Staffordshire 498 581
Suffolk 595 618
Surrey 522 614
Sussex 531 613
Thames Valley 571 608
Warwickshire 548 627
West Mercia 585 684
West Midlands 354 403
West Yorkshire 439 461
Wiltshire 545 590
England 416 472
1 Full time equivalents
2 Figures for the City of London and Metropolitan police have been combined

Notes:

1. Population figures are as at mid 1999 and are provided by the Office for National Statistics

2. Police numbers figures are as at 31 March 2001 (Home Office Statistical Bulletin—Police Service Strength)