§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of each police force in England and Wales retired in each of the last five years for which figures are available, broken down by the reason for retirement; and if he will make a statement about his plans to reduce the number of medical retirements from the police. [162]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 25 June 2001]: Tables setting out the requested data on retirements from police forces in England and Wales for the years 1995–96 to 1999–2000 will be placed in the Library.
The level of medical retirements from the forces in England and Wales has fallen from 46 per cent. of all retirements in 1995–96 to 31 per cent. in 1999–2000. I am, however, currently considering what steps need to be taken in order to ensure that all forces deal with medical retirements effectively.