HC Deb 09 July 2001 vol 371 cc424-5W
Mr. Burns

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average number of police officers per 10,000 population was in(a) England and (b) Essex on (i) 1 May 1997 and (ii) the latest date for which figures are available. [2331]

Mr. Denham

The information requested is:

31 March 19971 31 March 2001
Essex police
Number of police officers per 10,000 population 19.5 17.8
England
Number of police officers per 10,000 population 24.1 23.4
1 Police numbers are collected twice a year (March and September) therefore March figures have been used for 1997.

The Crime Fighting Fund is improving the position in Essex. The force increased its number by 81 between March 2000 and March 2001 to 2,887 and should have more officers by March 2002 than the 2,961 it had in March 1997.

Mr. Burns

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) funded and (b) actual police officers there were in the Essex constabulary on (i) 1 May 1997 and (ii) the latest date for which figures are available. [2332]

Mr. Denham

The information requested is set out in the table. The funded police numbers have been provided by the chief constable of the Essex police. With our approval Essex police deferred their Crime Fighting Fund allocation of 70 recruits for 2000–01 to 2001–02. The Crime Fighting Fund will pay for up to 132 recruits in 2001–02 and 65 in 2002–03.

Essex police
Year Number of funded police posts1 Actual number of Year police officers1
31 March 1997 2,944 2,961
31 March 2001 2,955 2,887
1 Full-time equivalent

Note

The funded officer posts reflect officers funded from the budget approved by the Police Authority.