HC Deb 23 July 2002 vol 389 cc1047-9W
Mr. Hendrick

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the most recent statistics are for the police use of firearms. [72974]

Mr. Denham

The statistics for April 2000 to March 2001 show that the number of police operations in which firearms were issued was 11,109. The number of occasions on which firearms were discharged by police increased to nine.

There was a small decrease in the number of operations in which armed response vehicles were deployed.

Full details are set out in the tables:

Number of operations in which firearms were authorized
1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01
Avon and Somerset 139 88 90 65
Bedfordshire 323 260 190 294
Cambridgeshire 96 43 75 71
Cheshire 216 29 386 545
Cleveland 103 35 76 28
City of London 307 147 125 3
Cumbria 68 52 24 30
Derbyshire 147 176 178 167
Devon and Cornwall 133 61 65 151
Dorset 54 69 79 174
Durham 103 114 114 40
Essex 505 590 497 435
Gloucestershire 51 52 52 48
Greater Manchester 165 160 224 357

Number of operations in which firearms were authorized
1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01
Hampshire 217 129 103 114
Hertfordshire 82 75 73 86
Humberside 472 317 193 158
Kent 423 92 85 83
Lancashire 338 616 267 242
Leicestershire 89 109 222 217
Lincolnshire 52 57 155 336
Merseyside 675 484 489 825
Metropolitan 2,578 2,742 2,862 1,862
Norfolk 128 185 239 226
Northamptonshire 77 51 57 58
Northumbria 823 683 465 708
North Yorkshire 102 69 61 72
Nottinghamshire 306 266 255 233
South Yorkshire 302 135 237 127
Staffordshire 240 209 174 203
Suffolk 193 174 165 176
Surrey 87 60 143 221
Sussex 330 123 185 353
Thames Valley 227 158 110 153
Warwickshire 152 291 194 233
West Mercia 132 130 110 36
West Midlands 227 305 362 485
West Yorkshire 630 662 813 822
Wiltshire 26 24 19 66
Dyfed Powys 27 38 37 18
Gwent 86 64 39 30
North Wales 310 386 371 195
South Wales 101 148 255 363
Total 11,842 10,928 10,915 11,109

Number of authorised firearms officers (AFOs)
1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01
Avon and Somerset 161 153 150 135
Bedfordshire 42 50 46 45
Cambridgeshire 80 80 77 73
Cheshire 82 70 75 74
Cleveland 84 78 80 75
City of London 81 55 73 74
Cumbria 122 98 98 94
Derbyshire 100 87 77 81
Devon and Cornwall 147 82 119 100
Dorset 72 72 66 67
Durham 144 96 101 101
Essex 217 235 228 195
Gloucestershire 84 79 77 72
Greater Manchester 182 217 218 240
Hampshire 112 110 111 100
Hertfordshire 41 43 52 44
Humberside 102 102 97 102
Kent 150 130 136 136
Lancashire 125 132 143 132
Leicestershire 94 90 90 85
Lincolnshire 85 75 78 80
Merseyside 165 121 96 103
Metropolitan 1,971 1,951 1,977 1,940
Norfolk 102 109 110 114
Northamptonshire 92 92 75 77
Northumbria 126 123 114 109
North Yorkshire 95 83 59 66
Nottinghamshire 129 120 116 137
South Yorkshire 108 90 100 98
Staffordshire 86 92 81 67
Suffolk 96 101 98 90
Surrey 61 69 71 72
Sussex 146 156 131 118
Thames Valley 194 179 187 185
Warwickshire 38 44 54 45
West Mercia 159 139 129 130
West Midlands 95 92 93 83
West Yorkshire 114 128 110 117
Wiltshire 105 88 89 71
Dyfed Powys 71 67 65 61
Gwent 59 64 68 66
North Wales 90 97 92 67
South Wales 176 169 155 143
Total 6,585 6,308 6,262 6,064

Number of operations involving armed response vehicles (ARVs)
1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01
Avon and Somerset 121 83 78 56
Bedfordshire 285 240 172 253
Cambridgeshire 19 27 54 36
Cheshire 166 247 330 441
Cleveland 157 29 25 16
City of London 34 32 24 30
Cumbria 43 38 21 27
Derbyshire 99 153 167 152
Devon and Cornwall 58 43 52 121
Dorset 50 66 69 155
Durham 85 84 67 31
Essex 180 285 244 206
Gloucestershire 48 49 44 39
Greater Manchester 56 43 173 302
Hampshire 170 114 90 84
Hertfordshire 25 26 44 65
Humberside 437 277 181 136
Kent 212 74 58 64
Lancashire 321 596 250 177
Leicestershire 68 109 144 195
Lincolnshire 34 42 141 324
Merseyside 559 396 466 75
Metropolitan 954 1,573 1,812 1,380
Norfolk 117 167 210 192
Northamptonshire 29 32 21 35
Northumbria 515 503 397 655
North Yorkshire 52 30 40 54
Nottinghamshire '256 246 232 207
South Yorkshire 252 115 214 103
Staffordshire 206 185 131 136
Suffolk 135 104 101 103
Surrey 76 46 110 192
Sussex 284 '0 172 245
Thames Valley 184 139 108 108
Warwickshire 127 220 158 194
West Mercia 98 99 98 26
West Midlands 102 129 138 243
West Yorkshire 586 630 787 785
Wiltshire 21 17 15 48
Dyfed Powys 19 30 37 18

Police officers Percentage of all police officers Civilian support staff and traffic wardens Percentage of all civilian support staff etc. All staff Percentage of all staff
Average daily number of working days lost to sickness absence 710.5 2.7 328.4 2.9 1038.9 2.7
Number of staff who took self-certificated sick leave 1,827 6.9 128.5 11.5 3,112 8.2
Number of staff on sick leave for less than seven days 1,872 7.0 1,488 13.3 3,360 8.9
Number of employees on sick leave for seven or more days 974 3.7 429 3.8 1,403 3.7
Number of employees on sick leave as a result of injury on duty 273 1.0 22 0.2 295 0.8