HC Deb 25 March 2002 vol 382 cc659-60W
Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the(a) operational and (b) target strength of the British Transport police in each BTP area was (i) in April 1997 and (ii) at the latest available date. [43950]

Mr. Byers

The British Transport police have provided me with the following information regarding operational and target strength in 1997 and 2002. In 1997 the force recorded target numbers according to rank rather than location.

British Transport staff numbers
April 1997 March 2002
Operational Target Operational Target
Force HQ 114.00 — 109.00 112.00
London North 323.50 — 308.00 315.00
London South 296.00 — 308.05 315.00
Midlands 164.75 — 168.00 177.00
North East 203.00 — 189.10 195.10
North West 285.75 — 258.30 267.00
scotland 195.00 — 203.40 202.40
south West 135.00 — 128.08 135.28
London Underground 415.35 — 430.00 420.00
2,132.35 2,177 2,101.93 2,138.78

Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what new arrangements the British Transport police are implementing to ensure that no individual case is acted on on the basis of an out-of-date arrest warrant; and if he will make a statement. [45182]

Mr. Jamieson

The British Transport police (BTP) have advised that after completing their initial 15 weeks at a regional training centre recruits return to the BTP's Force Training Centre where they receive specialist training that includes the execution of arrest warrants. Further guidelines on warrants are also available internally to all BTP staff. A specialist eight-day course is also run for the BTP's Police National Computer (PNC) operators. This provides detailed knowledge on the PNC and includes procedures relating to arrest warrants.

Mr. Peter Duncan

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many Transport police were employed in each of the last five years. [45309]

Mr. Jamieson

The British Transport police have provided me with the following information:

Number of officers (full time equivalents)
1997 2,132
1998 2,095
1999 2,106
2000 2,073
2001 2,101