§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 19 November 2001,Official Report, column 92W, on baton rounds, how many plastic baton rounds have been procured in each year since 1981 by each of the 36 police forces in England and Wales and three non-Home Office forces; and what the annual cost of such procurement for each force was. [29737]
§ Mr. DenhamI have accepted the advice of the Association of Chief Police Officers that the disclosure of this information, on an individual force basis, would be prejudicial to operational effectiveness.
23,090 baton rounds were purchased by Home Office and non-Home Office forces in 2000, at a total cost of £157,474; and 25,500 in 2001 at a total cost of £173,910. Information for previous years is not readily available.