§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the cost in each year, to(a) his Department and (b) Wiltshire Constabulary of Operation Antler, including salary and support costs; and how many officers have worked on the case in each year.[52413]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 25 April 2002]: The chief constable informs me that Wiltshire Police Authority salary and support costs for Operation Antler, since it commenced in August 1999, have been as follows:
Year £ 1999–2000 223,457 2000–01 715,823 2001–021 742,002 Total 1,681,282 1To February 2002. Figures to the end of March are not yet available. A special grant in relation to the additional costs of the Potion Down investigation was made by the Home Office to Wiltshire Constabulary in August 2000 for £870,000.
I understand from the force that to March 2000 there were 14 staff on the investigation (10 Wiltshire police officers, two Wiltshire support staff and two Ministry of Defence (MOD) police officers); at its peak from January 2001 there were 26 staff (14 Wiltshire police officers, five Wiltshire support staff, two MOD police officers and five military investigators). The current staffing level is 18 (10 Wiltshire police officers, six Wiltshire support staff, one MOD police officer and one military investigator).