§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the community support officer scheme in Great Britain is expected to cost for the next five years; and what the expenditure was over the past five years. [186762]
§ Ms BlearsThe new Neighbourhood Policing Fund has made £50 million available for recruitment of additional Community Support Officers (CSOs) in this financial year in England and Wales. This fund will allow forces to recruit an additional 20,000 CSOs by March 2008 and details of the funding which will be made available to achieve this will be published in time for the 2006–07 planning round. Government expenditure on CSOs since they were first introduced in September 2002 amounts to £49.5 million up to the end of July 2004.
§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the community support officer scheme in London is expected to cost the Government over the next five years; and what the expenditure was on the scheme in the last five years. [186764]
§ Ms BlearsThe new Neighbourhood Policing Fund has made £50 million available for recruitment of additional Community Support Officers (CSOs) in this financial year and all chief officers in England and Wales have been invited to bid for a share of this. This fund will allow forces to recruit 20,000 more CSOs by March 2008 and details of the funding which will be made available to achieve this will be published in time for the 2006–07 planning round.
Government funding for CSOs in the Metropolitan police district amounts to approximately £23.5 million since CSOs were first introduced in September 2002.
§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much training is required for community support officers; and what the training involves. [186769]
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§ Ms BlearsThe length and scope of training for Community Support Officers (CSOs) is decided by individual chief officers. In most forces training lasts from four to six weeks and may include the use of powers, diversity, information gathering, first aid and tackling antisocial behaviour.
§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much it costs on average to train a new community support officer. [186906]
§ Ms BlearsThere is no standard cost of training new Community Support Officers (CSOs) as this varies between forces. The £50 million made available this year to fund new CSOs under the Neighbourhood Policing Fund includes £2,500 per CSO as a contribution to set up costs including training.
§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what remuneration is given to community support officers. [186908]
§ Ms BlearsRemuneration of community support officers (CSOs) is a matter for individual forces to decide. The average amount paid to CSOs in 2003–04, including basic salary and allowances, was £19,591.