HC Deb 18 December 2003 vol 415 cc1055-6W
Mr. Oaten

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Community Support Officers there were on the latest available date; and if he will provide a breakdown of their location by(a) police force area and (b) local authority area. [144582]

Ms Blears

There were 2,861 Community Support Officers (CSOs) in 38 police forces on 1 December 2003. The table provides a breakdown by police force area. Information on deployment of CSOs by local authority area is not held centrally. The deployment of CSOs within a police force area is a matter for the chief officer of the force concerned.

Number of CSOs recruited by police forces as of 1 December 2003
Force Community Support Officers
Avon and Somerset 46
Bedfordshire 8
Cambridgeshire 59
Cheshire 30
Cleveland 80
Devon and Cornwall 55
Dorset 7
Durham 27
Dyfed-Powys 5
Essex 77
Gloucestershire 50
Greater Manchester 160
Gwent 50
Hertfordshire 30
Kent 62
Lancashire 103
Leicestershire 44
Lincolnshire 44
Merseyside 64
Metropolitan Police 1,044
Norfolk 34
Northamptonshire 12
North Wales 7
North Yorkshire 37
Northumbria 40
Nottinghamshire 43
South Wales 40
South Yorkshire 42
Staffordshire 10
Suffolk 12
Surrey 64
Sussex 72
Thames Valley 6
Warwickshire 28
West Mercia 10
West Midlands 59
West Yorkshire 96
Wiltshire 24
Total 2,681