HC Deb 03 March 2003 vol 400 cc823-4W
Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) police officers and (b) police support staff there were in England in each year from 1980–81 to 2003–04 (planned); and if he will make a statement. [99807]

Mr. Denham

Information about the number of police officers and civilian staff for each force can be found in the Annual Reports of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary until 1995–96. Thereafter the data can be found in Home Office Statistical Bulletins on police strength in England and Wales from March 1998 until March 2002, copies of which are in the Library.

Figures for March 2003 are not yet available. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has set a target for there to be 130,000 officers by March 2003 and 132,500 officers in 2004, but he has not set targets for numbers of civilian staff. Forces are on track to achieve the targets for police officer numbers.

Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the increase in police numbers is in 2003–04, broken down by(a) Crime Fighting Fund and (b) locally funded additional officers; and if he will make a statement. [99902]

Mr. Denham

My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has set a target for there to be 132,500 officers in 2004.

Apart from ring-fenced provision for a particular purpose, such as the Crime Fighting Fund, decisions about police budgets and the allocation of resources, including planned numbers of officers, are matters for Police Authorities and Chief Officers. Details of force plans for locally funded increases in strength are not collected centrally.

Under the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) recruitment initiative police forces in England and Wales have been allocated 9,000 recruits over and above the forces' previous recruitment plans for the three years to March 2003. Funding for these officers will continue in 2003–04.

The CFF will continue in 2003–04 and we will fund 75 per cent. of the cost of new recruits through CFF rather than 100 per cent. as in the past three years. Funding should be sufficient for forces to recruit a further 650 police officers through this fund.