§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the time taken by police officers to complete the paperwork and processes necessary after arresting an individual; and what estimate he has made of the changes in that time associated with new(a) legislation, (b) regulations and (c) Government guidance since 1997 [36582]
§ Mr. DenhamOn 1 November 2001, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary published PA Consulting's study "Diary of a Police Officer" which had considered what more could be done to free police officers from unnecessary paperwork and other obstacles which prevent them from spending more time in public. The study found that officers were spending 43.1 per cent. of their time in the police station.
In the White Paper "Policing a New Century" (CM 5326), published on 5 December 2001, my right hon. Friend announced that he was setting up a task force, chaired by Sir David O'Dowd, to consider how to take forward the recommendations in this, and other, relevant reports, in order to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens on the police.
§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individual arrests were carried out by police forces in England and Wales during each of the last three years for which records are available. [36581]
§ Mr. DenhamInformation given in the table is for arrests for notifiable offences within the financial years 1999–2000 and 2000–01. Information for earlier years is not available on a consistent basis.
1249W
Persons arrested for notifiable offences recorded by the police by police force area, 1999–00 and 2000/01 England and Wales Police force area 1999–2000 2000–01 Avon and Somerset 21,856 27,156 Bedfordshire 13,011 14,541 Cambridgeshire 12,418 12,153 Cheshire 18,202 16,959 Cleveland 20,521 18,019 Cumbria 15,568 13,226 Derbyshire 18,499 17,848 Devon and Cornwall 24,609 25,658 Dorset 12,471 11,002 Durham 1— 1— Essex 24,405 26,581 Gloucestershire 11,352 11,155 Greater Manchester 73,366 68,803 Hampshire 42,598 39,420 Hertfordshire 14,115 15,749 Humberside 1— 26,766 Kent 34,684 30,360 Lancashire 37,535 36,998 Leicestershire 17,999 17,800 Lincolnshire 20,700 16,618 London, City of 1— 4,286 Merseyside 44,315 45,598 Metropolitan police 202,218 180,634 Norfolk 16,313 15,461 Northamptonshire 12,730 11,598 Northumbria 47,295 41,150 North Yorkshire 20,353 18,319 Nottinghamshire 33,001 32,707 South Yorkshire 34,727 33,573 Staffordshire 1— 1— Suffolk 10,787 10,706 Surrey 12,993 15,590 Sussex 24,183 30,302
Persons arrested for notifiable offences recorded by the police by police force area, 1999–00 and 2000/01 England and Wales Police force area 1999–2000 2000–01 Thames Valley 43,738 44,575 Warwickshire 8,377 7,073 West Mercia 21,172 18,235 West Midlands 78,592 91,685 West Yorkshire 44,800 62,410 Wiltshire 10,498 10,031 Dyfed-Powys 14,057 13,036 Gwent 27,829 24,642 North Wales 12,653 14,843 South Wales 1— 34,838 England and Wales2 1,277,900 1,264,200 1 Not available 2 Estimated