HC Deb 07 February 2001 vol 362 cc605-6W
Miss Widdecombe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of uniformed police patrols was in(a) England and Wales as a whole and (b) each individual police force in England and Wales in each of the last five years for which data are available; and if he will make a statement. [148063]

Mr. Charles Clarke

[holding answer 31 January 20011: The table records the number of officers who are predominantly assigned to foot, car and beat patrol duties for each year from 1996–97 to 1999–2000. Information for 2000–01 will be available later in the year following its collection at the end of March by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary.

I understand from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary that in 1999–2000, 50.3 per cent. of the total number of officers in England and Wales were deployed to patrol duties. Most of the other half of the police service are deployed to other operational duties, such as Criminal Investigation Department, traffic, and other specialist operational activities.

Officers predominantly assigned to foot/car/beat patrol duty by force
Time periods
Forces 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
Avon and Somerset 1,442.2 1,432.2 1,438.3 1,538.6
Bedfordshire 543.5 457.0 479.1 478.3
Cambridgeshire 655.7 614.0 586.2 581.9
Cheshire 976.2 1,022.9 969.9 867.3
City of London 369.9 353.2 385.2 342.2
Cleveland 771.2 742.7 552.0 676.1
Cumbria 607.0 630.0 619.0 571.1
Derbyshire 911.2 867.7 842.9 818.7
Devon and Cornwall 1,499.9 1,522.4 1,488.1 1,444.4
Dorset 671.0 663.0 665.0 612.1
Durham 694.9 720.1 764.0 741.7
Dyfed—Powys 559.4 601.3 595.9 598.7
Essex 1,407.6 1,549.4 1,512.4 1,535.9
Gloucestershire 565.0 551.2 533.4 501.9
Greater Manchester 3,245.6 3,361.2 3,321.4 3,615.6
Gwent 732.5 707.8 770.1 735.4
Hampshire 1,975.8 2,094.3 2,030.1 1,912.3
Hertfordshire 919.5 910.6 878.7 968.8
Humberside 1,081.6 1,100.6 1,106.5 1,147.5
Kent 1,542.1 1,352.1 1,116.8 1,132.3
Lancashire 1,465.9 1,274.0 1,489.7 1,585.6
Leicestershire 1,010.4 1,007.0 1,016.0 1,083.5
Lincolnshire 607.8 717.1 661.2 613.8
Merseyside 2,300.0 2,211.7 2,033.2 2,098.1
Metropolitan police 12,307.0 12,158.7 11,716.4 12,312.2
Norfolk 761.7 789.0 714.0 691.4
Northamptonshire 622.4 592.8 648.6 557.5
Northumbria 1,965.7 1,909.3 1,972.9 2,069.8
North Wales 730.0 752.0 615.0 656.0
North Yorkshire 685.4 716.2 713.4 749.3
Nottinghamshire 1,198.1 1,198.1 1,185.2 1,099.7
South Wales 1,537.0 1,472.9 1,604.7 1,610.6
South Yorkshire 1,404.9 1,498.9 1,418.0 1,467.6
Staffordshire 1,044.0 1,255.7 1,220.2 996.7
Suffolk 660.4 642.7 628.7 639.7
Surrey 813.5 659.8 786.4 710.8
Sussex 1,601.4 1,512.0 1,324.9 1,175.8
Thames Valley 1,888.8 1,906.3 2,001.7 1,761.0
Warwickshire 429.9 452.4 450.6 458.7
West Mercia 906.0 925.9 903.9 798.0
West Midlands 3,841.6 3,994.7 4,410.6 4,401.9
West Yorkshire 2,677.6 2,725.3 2,614.3 2,487.4

Officers predominantly assigned to foot/car/beat patrol duty by force
Time periods
Forces 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
Wiltshire 541.6 577.3 593.2 555.6
England and Wales 62,172.4 62,202.7 61,377.5 61,401.3

Notes:

Figures are full-time equivalent officers