HC Deb 08 September 2004 vol 424 c1263W
Mr. Rosindell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of community support officers recruited are(a) men and (b) women. [186766]

Ms Blears

In the most recent official figures published in September 2003, 64 per cent. of Community Support Officers (CSOs) were male and 36 per cent. female.

Mr. Rosindell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers are assigned, on average, to each police officer in(a) London and (b) England and Wales. [186905]

Ms Blears

Information about the numbers of Community Support Officers (CSOs) assigned to individual police officers is not held centrally. However, the most recent figures on police numbers released in May 2004 are(a) 30,619 police officers in the Metropolitan Police Service (MRS) and City of London forces and (b) 139,631 police officers in England and Wales. In the most recent figures released at the end of July 2004 there were (a) 1,791 CSOs in the MRS and (b) 3,943 CSOs in England and Wales.