§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the full-time equivalent strength of the police force in Lancashire, broken down by rank, for each of the last three years. [148366]
§ Ms BlearsThe information requested is set out in the table. Decisions on the number of officers in each rank below that of Assistant Chief Constable is the responsibility of the Chief Constable.
1218W
Rank 31 March 2001 31 March 2002 31 March 2003 ACPO Ranks1 4 4 4 Chief Superintendent2 — — 8 Superintendent 33 31 20 Chief Inspector 37 35 41 Inspector 163 166 174 Sergeant 513 513 514 Constable 2,505 2,555 2,578 1 ACPO ranks include Chief Constable, Deputy Chief Constable and Assistant Chief Constable. 2 Chief Superintendent rank was abolished in April 1995 and was reintroduced from 1 January 2002. Separate collection of Chief Superintendent and Superintendent data was not reintroduced until March 2003.
§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there were in Lancashire, in each of the last three years, broken down by rank. [148367]
§ Ms BlearsHome Office figures on police strength moved to an annual cycle from March 2002 and are available in the House Library, as are previous publications. The total number of Special Constables in Lancashire for each of the past three years is as follows
31 March 2001–36031 March 2002–36331 March 2003–351There are no ranks specified in Regulations for the Special Constabulary and information concerning grades used within forces is not collected centrally.