§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to what extent each local authority has used powers under Section 33 of the Police Act 1966 to help fund new community support officers; and how many such officers are employed. [86915]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 12 December 2002]: There was no Police Act for England and Wales in 1966. Over £19 million was made available for the recruitment of more than 1,000 Community Support Officers (CSOs) in England and Wales during this financial year. 975W Twenty seven police forces and authorities made bids for a share of this fund and we were able to offer some funding to all of them.
We continue to work with police forces and authorities to develop their implementation plans and are encouraging them to discuss with potential funding partners, such as local authorities, how further CSOs might be funded in the future.
At present there are 215 CSOs patrolling the streets of Westminster, Newham and Tower Hamlets. Lancashire Constabulary introduced 20 CSOs to their force area on 16 December.