HC Deb 18 July 2001 vol 372 cc282-3W
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. [2939]

Mr. Denham

[holding answer 9 July 2001]: The information requested has been provided by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC) and covers the years 1995–96 to 1999–2000. The table records the number of officers who are predominately assigned to foot, car and beat patrol duties for each year from 1995–96 to 1999–2000. Information for 2000–01 will be available in the autumn after it has been collated and verified by HMIC.

I understand from HMIC that in 1999–2000 50.3 per cent. of the total number of officers in forces 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 CID, traffic, and other specialist operational activities.

Decisions on the allocation of resources to patrol and other functions such as CID are operational decisions for the professional judgment of Chief Officers of Police.

The number of officers available for deployment is increasing. Home Office Statistical Bulletin 10/01, published on 28 June 2001, shows that by 31 March 2001 the strength of the police service in England and Wales had grown to 125,519 police officers (full-time equivalents), up 1,349 since March 2000. We expect police strength to reach record numbers by March 2003 and to reach 130,000 by March 2004.

Number of full-time equivalent police officers allocated to patrol duties
Force 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
Northamptonshire 594.0 622.4 592.8 648.6 557.5
Northumbria 1,966.4 1,965.7 1,909.3 1,972.9 2,069.8
Nottinghamshire 1,199.2 1,198.1 1,198.1 1,185.2 1,099.7
South Wales 1,916.0 1,537.0 1,472.9 1.604.7 1,610.6
South Yorkshire 1,371.4 1,404.9 1,498.9 1,418.0 1,467.6
Staffordshire 1,199.0 1,044.0 1,255.7 1,220.2 996.7
Suffolk 639.8 660.4 642.7 628.7 639.7
Surrey 846.6 813.5 659.8 786.4 710.8
Sussex 1,397.2 1,601.4 1,512.0 1,324.9 1,175.8
Thames Valley 1,921.0 1,888.8 1,906.3 2,001.7 1,761.0
Warwickshire 456.0 429.9 452.4 450.6 458.7
West Mercia 1,023.1 906.0 925.9 903.9 798.0
West Midlands 3,601.2 3,841.6 3,994.7 4,410.6 4,401.9
West Yorkshire 2,620.0 2,677.6 2,725.3 2,614.3 2,487.4
Wiltshire 578.6 541.6 577.3 593.2 555.6
England and Wales 62,194.0 62,172.4 62,202.7 61,377.5 61,401.3

Source:

Data from HMICs Annual Statistical Return