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Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide a breakdown of administration costs incurred to date and forecast for the future on PFI work. [5745]

Mr. Howard [holding answer 14 December 1995]: The direct cost of staffing and professional advice for administration of the private finance initiative policy generally is estimated at £230,000 per annum.

Administration costs are also incurred on development of every capital project, whether financed directly or through PFI. These costs are not recorded separately.

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide revenue forecasts for the current year and the next five years of expenditure on schemes provided under the PFI. [5746]

Mr. Howard [holding answer 14 December 1995]: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 7 December, column 356.

Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide for schemes so far agreed under the PFI the level of financing costs above the current cost of Government borrowing for the scheme with (a) the highest financing costs and (b) the lowest costs. [5739]

Mr. Howard [holding answer 14 December 1995]: The information is not available in the form requested. It is a fundamental principle when considering schemes under the private finance initiative that what is assessed is the best value for money in providing a specified service, taking into account all aspects of design, building, finance and operation as a unified whole.

Missing Persons

Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment the Missing Persons Bureau has made of the benefits of holding data in respect of missing persons before they have been missing for 28 days. [5995]

Mr. Maclean: Details may be notified to the bureau before 28 days where the circumstances in which a person is missing are of particular concern to the notifying police force. It would not be practicable for the bureau to be notified of all such cases, as the majority of missing persons are found within a few days.

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for providing the national missing persons helpline with funding for the work it carries out at the request of the police service. [6041]

Mr. Maclean [holding answer 14 December 1995]: The Government received an application for funding the

18 Dec 1995 : Column: 956

helpline when it formed part of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, and has received a number of other representations suggesting public funding should be provided. There are no plans to provide public funding for the organisation. The helpline may apply to the National Lottery Charities Board and to other sources of funding available to voluntary organisations.

Police Service Strength

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will list the number of police officers per 1,000 of the population per authority area and the average number of police officers per 1,000 of the population per authority area for each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement; [6244]

(2) what was the number of police officers per 1,000 of the population for each year since 1979 for each police authority area. [6274]

Mr. Maclean: Information on police to population ratios can be found in the appendix to the annual reports of Her Majesty's chief inspector of constabulary. Copies of these are in the Library.

Mr. Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the manpower of each police force in respect of (a) numbers of police officers and (b) numbers of civilian support staff on 1 November for each of the last five years for which figures are available. [6273]

Mr. Maclean: Information on police strength was collected at the end of each month until April this year. Data on police service strength are now provided twice a year. Information for the last five years is contained in the tables:

Police force strength in England and Wales 1991 to 1995 As at 31 October

Force	1991	1992	1993	1994	(29)1995
Avon and Somerset	3,069	3,068	3,048	3,025	2,986
Bedfordshire	1,097	1,129	1,157	1,123	1,116
Cambridgeshire	1,241	1,262	1,278	1,270	1,254
Cheshire	1,880	1,888	1,858	1,913	1,951
City of London	814	801	878	889	869
Cleveland	1,477	1,490	1,430	1,442	1,430
Cumbria	1,180	1,192	1,205	1,179	1,144
Derbyshire	1,711	1,803	1,786	1,803	1,762
Devon and Cornwall	2,871	2,918	2,917	2,885	2,872
Dorset	1,291	1,317	1,302	1,287	1,272
Durham	1,371	1,390	1,379	1,357	1,377
Essex	2,886	2,923	2,964	2,909	2,897
Gloucestershire	1,174	1,154	1,144	1,171	1,142
Greater Manchester	6,985	7,084	7,075	6,980	7,026
Hampshire	3,182	3,269	3,272	3,259	3,307
Hertfordshire	1,662	1,690	1,693	1,691	1,704
Humberside	2,023	2,027	2,029	2,038	2,025
Kent	3,028	3,099	3,183	3,137	3,100
Lancashire	3,211	3,203	3,149	3,196	3,195
Leicestershire	1,823	1,846	1,829	1,835	1,860
Lincolnshire	1,202	1,188	1,212	1,214	1,164
Merseyside	4,616	4,687	4,690	4,688	4,536
Metropolitan police	28,202	27,804	27,695	27,627	27,395
Norfolk	1,416	1,419	1,437	1,419	1,392
Northamptonshire	1,156	1,197	1,190	1,171	1,161
Northumbria	3,467	3,578	3,595	3,593	3,611
North Yorkshire	1,389	1,411	1,349	1,323	1,311
Nottinghamshire	2,334	2,343	2,360	2,345	2,314
South Yorkshire	2,996	3,013	3,022	3,030	3,041
Staffordshire	2,198	2,196	2,194	2,207	2,190
Suffolk	1,209	1,240	1,224	1,209	1,158
Surrey	1,672	1,684	1,663	1,673	1,656
Sussex	2,973	3,007	2,977	2,949	3,020
Thames Valley	3,731	3,843	3,886	3,887	3,760
Warwickshire	1,009	1,007	1,031	1,038	983
West Mercia	2,031	2,061	2,057	2,042	2,008
West Midlands	6,867	6,935	6,961	6,991	7,078
West Yorkshire	5,171	5,095	5,005	5,036	5,122
Wiltshire	1,203	1,257	1,272	1,260	1,236
Dyfed Powys	949	966	968	980	977
Gwent	1,004	1,008	996	1,004	1,006
North Wales	1,349	1,369	1,359	1,369	1,352
South Wales	3,152	3,182	3,159	3,048	2,954
Total all forces	125,272	126,043	125,878	125,492	124,710

(29) As at 30 September 1995, the latest data available.

18 Dec 1995 : Column: 957

Civilian and traffic warden strength in England and Wales for 1991 to 1995 As at 31 October

Force	1991	1992	1993	1994	(30)1995
Avon and Somerset	1,058	1,254	1,338	1,325	1,294
Bedfordshire	419	420	439	477	519
Cambridgeshire	496	491	488	488	546
Cheshire	533	581	615	641	730
City of London	367	378	384	332	338
Cleveland	464	491	521	525	575
Cumbria	427	446	459	484	462
Derbyshire	553	635	657	670	751
Devon and Cornwall	1,162	1,182	1,213	1,224	1,237
Dorset	610	630	625	665	671
Durham	554	563	560	508	526
Essex	1,173	1,200	1,279	1,329	1,270
Gloucestershire	402	411	420	425	464
Greater Manchester	2,460	2,693	2,815	2,880	2,904
Hampshire	1,125	1,169	1,212	1,317	1,409
Hertfordshire	645	665	669	699	921
Humberside	740	760	733	708	670
Kent	1,112	1,230	1,228	1,181	1,290
Lancashire	1,224	1,190	1,164	1,243	1,419
Leicestershire	776	758	724	755	747
Lincolnshire	481	509	516	528	452
Merseyside	1,705	1,757	1,781	1,773	1,797
Metropolitan police	15,723	16,205	16,324	15,767	16,762
Norfolk	480	499	531	548	553
Northamptonshire	450	467	518	500	492
Northumbria	1,356	1,381	1,330	1,397	1,402
North Yorkshire	469	483	464	522	537
Nottinghamshire	869	802	871	934	1,022
South Yorkshire	945	986	1,211	1,283	1,292
Staffordshire	779	781	773	763	800
Suffolk	537	556	543	544	520
Surrey	600	650	709	721	796
Sussex	1,073	1,131	1,153	1,182	1,219
Thames Valley	1,562	1,603	1,647	1,767	1,913
Warwickshire	348	356	364	363	412
West Mercia	914	967	969	995	1,038
West Midlands	2,534	2,717	2,729	2,859	2,957
West Yorkshire	2,023	2,034	2,032	2,092	2,149
Wiltshire	504	523	516	501	521
Dyfed Powys	268	287	304	311	335
Gwent	334	346	350	350	380
North Wales	469	491	507	484	472
South Wales	1,173	1,180	1,279	1,215	1,240
Total all forces	51,916	53,858	54,953	55,275	57,790

(30) As at 30 September 1995, the latest data available.

18 Dec 1995 : Column: 958

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