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20 Jan 2004 : Column 1220W—continued

Parliamentary Questions

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he will reply to written question No.142767 of 8 December 2003; [149507]

(2) when he will reply to written question No.142763 of 8 December 2003. [149508]

Beverley Hughes: I have replied to both written questions 142763 and 142767 from the hon. Member. The former was answered on 15 January 2003, Official Report, column 877, and the latter was answered today, 20 January.

Police

Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the current level is of police civilian support staff. [148315]

Ms Blears [holding answer 19 January 2004]: The number of full-time equivalent police staff for the police service in England and Wales (includes 43 police force areas and the National Crime Squad) was 63,105 on 31 March 2003. This figure excludes community support officers and traffic wardens.

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each police force in England and Wales (a) in rank order and (b) in alphabetical order the ratio of full-time equivalent police officers to population (i) in 1996–97 and (ii) on the latest available date. [148313]

Ms Blears [holding answer 19 January 2004]: The following table provides the ratio of police officers to population for 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2003.

Police officer strength⁽²⁷⁾

Rank order				Alphabetical order
Police force area	March 1997(28)	Police force area	March 2003(28),(29)	Police force area	March 1997(28)	Police force area	March 2003(28),(29)
Metropolitan Police(30)	367	Metropolitan Police(30)	401	Avon and Somerset	204	Avon and Somerset	212
Merseyside	296	West Midlands	303	Bedfordshire	200	Bedfordshire	195
Gwent	275	Merseyside	301	Cambridgeshire	188	Cambridgeshire	195
West Midlands	270	Greater Manchester	296	Cheshire	209	Cheshire	215
Greater Manchester	268	Cleveland	292	City of London(30)	—	City of London(30)	—
Cleveland	261	Northumbria	285	Cleveland	261	Cleveland	292
Northumbria	256	Durham	279	Cumbria	233	Cumbria	234
West Yorkshire	247	South Wales	270	Derbyshire	187	Derbyshire	209
South Yorkshire	242	South Yorkshire	251	Devon and Cornwall	186	Devon and Cornwall	203
Durham	240	Gwent	243	Dorset	189	Dorset	204
Cumbria	233	Humberside	242	Durham	240	Durham	279
Humberside	230	West Yorkshire	242	Dyfed-Powys	212	Dyfed-Powys	235
Lancashire	228	Nottinghamshire	237	Essex	197	Essex	185
Nottinghamshire	225	Lancashire	236	Gloucestershire	205	Gloucestershire	217
South Wales	223	Dyfed-Powys	235	Greater Manchester	268	Greater Manchester	296
Dyfed-Powys	212	Cumbria	234	Gwent	275	Gwent	243
Leicestershire	211	North Wales	232	Hampshire	198	Hampshire	206
Sussex	211	Leicestershire	229	Hertfordshire	205	Hertfordshire	189
Kent	210	Kent	221	Humberside	230	Humberside	242
Staffordshire	209	Gloucestershire	217	Kent	210	Kent	221
Cheshire	209	Cheshire	215	Lancashire	228	Lancashire	236
Surrey	209	Avon and Somerset	212	Leicestershire	211	Leicestershire	229
North Wales	208	Staffordshire	210	Lincolnshire	196	Lincolnshire	189
Gloucestershire	205	Derbyshire	209	Merseyside	296	Merseyside	301
Hertfordshire	205	Hampshire	206	Metropolitan Police(30)	367	Metropolitan Police(30)	401
Avon and Somerset	204	Dorset	204	Norfolk	185	Norfolk	188
Bedfordshire	200	Devon and Cornwall	203	North Wales	208	North Wales	232
Hampshire	198	Sussex	200	North Yorkshire	183	North Yorkshire	192
Essex	197	Warwickshire	197	Northamptonshire	196	Northamptonshire	192
Northamptonshire	196	Bedfordshire	195	Northumbria	256	Northumbria	285
Lincolnshire	196	Cambridgeshire	195	Nottinghamshire	225	Nottinghamshire	237
Wiltshire	195	West Mercia	195	South Wales	223	South Wales	270
Dorset	189	North Yorkshire	192	South Yorkshire	242	South Yorkshire	251
Cambridgeshire	188	Northamptonshire	192	Staffordshire	209	Staffordshire	210
Derbyshire	187	Hertfordshire	189	Suffolk	180	Suffolk	187
Devon and Cornwall	186	Wiltshire	189	Surrey	209	Surrey	180
Warwickshire	186	Lincolnshire	189	Sussex	211	Sussex	200
Norfolk	185	Norfolk	188	Thames Valley	180	Thames Valley	183
West Mercia	183	Suffolk	187	Warwickshire	186	Warwickshire	197
North Yorkshire	183	Essex	185	West Mercia	183	West Mercia	195
Thames Valley	180	Thames Valley	183	West Midlands	270	West Midlands	303
Suffolk	180	Surrey	180	West Yorkshire	247	West Yorkshire	242
City of London(30)	—	City of London(30)	—	Wiltshire	195	Wiltshire	189
Total	241		252	Total	241		252

⁽²⁷⁾ Full-time equivalents

⁽²⁸⁾ Police strength per 100,000 population

⁽²⁹⁾ Comparable strength

⁽³⁰⁾ City of London and Metropolitan Police combined

20 Jan 2004 : Column 1221W

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why Tetra technology was chosen for the UK police force modern digital radio system, excluding competition from other technologies. [147810]

Ms Blears: Expert assessments of available technologies were made at the start of the procurement process for the new police radio system. The experts concluded that TETRA was the only standard to meet fully the requirements of the police service.

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers, broken down by (a) sex and (b) ethnicity, were employed by each English police force in (i) 1992, (ii) 1997, (iii) 2001 and (iv) at the latest date for which figures are available. [148407]

Ms Blears: The available information is given in the following tables:

Police officer strength⁽³¹⁾ in England by gender as at 31 March

English police forces	1992	1997	2001	2003
Males
Avon and Somerset	2,769	2,622	2,530	2,638
Bedfordshire	940	911	837	881
Cambridgeshire	1,107	1,119	1,105	1,144
Cheshire	1,649	1,759	1,669	1,725
Cleveland	1,319	1,251	1,163	1,321
Cumbria	1,041	970	870	901
Derbyshire	1,531	1,564	1,553	1,643
Devon and Cornwall	2,769	2,458	2,428	2,600
Dorset	1,135	1,105	1,121	1,165
Durham	1,264	1,229	1,295	1,316
Essex	2,554	2,493	2,419	2,413
Gloucestershire	1,046	979	945	979
Greater Manchester	6,142	5,774	5,627	5,940
Hampshire	2,852	2,917	2,833	2,934
Hertfordshire	1,446	1,453	1,546	1,530
Humberside	1,840	1,761	1,604	1,700
Kent	2,660	2,734	2,683	2,784
Lancashire	2,833	2,722	2,676	2,716
Leicestershire	1,626	1,630	1,707	1,758
Lincolnshire	1,078	1,047	1,034	1,020
City of London	713	739	607	676
Merseyside	4,083	3,561	3,413	3,407
Metropolitan police	24,416	22,779	20,946	23,290
Norfolk	1,288	1,239	1,195	1,250
Northamptonshire	1,044	1,006	959	963
Northumbria	3,117	3,160	3,244	3,272
North Yorkshire	1,249	1,160	1,109	1,197
Nottinghamshire	2,103	2,006	1,795	2,011
South Yorkshire	2,676	2,684	2,600	2,551
Staffordshire	1,883	1,839	1,708	1,766
Suffolk	1,084	996	935	1,003
Surrey	1,491	1,386	1,703	1,501
Sussex	2,665	2,633	2,361	2,390
Thames Valley	3,252	3,106	3,051	3,086
Warwickshire	883	800	780	815
West Mercia	1,783	1,740	1,625	1,822
West Midlands	5,934	5,742	5,775	5,926
West Yorkshire	4,490	4,403	3,985	4,038
Wiltshire	1,080	1,001	914	917
Females
Avon and Somerset	312	367	430	511
Bedfordshire	153.	183	199	225
Cambridgeshire	143	183	191	240
Cheshire	225	287	334	394
Cleveland	158	209	244	261
Cumbria	138	174	178	239
Derbyshire	175	227	270	360
Devon and Cornwall	312	407	506	602
Dorset	154	179	233	251
Durham	125	232	300	336
Essex	344	468	468	576
Gloucestershire	141	154	228	248
Greater Manchester	919	1,148	1,282	1,403
Hampshire	359	535	602	734
Hertfordshire	249	306	376	428
Humberside	186	284	314	405
Kent	414	526	635	703
Lancashire	365	525	579	623
Leicestershire	219	319	326	355
Lincolnshire	118	149	169	202
City of London	95	120	96	132
Merseyside	583	669	668	692
Metropolitan police	3,738	3,899	3,932	4,694
Norfolk	126	193	225	249
Northamptonshire	114	171	198	247
Northumbria	347	517	614	672
North Yorkshire	149	178	196	246
Nottinghamshire	228	318	417	400
South Yorkshire	332	475	597	633
Staffordshire	293	372	420	436
Suffolk	134	184	197	250
Surrey	215	234	363	406
Sussex	319	452	495	599
Thames Valley	520	589	652	747
Warwickshire	107	126	146	182
West Mercia	251	301	326	434
West Midlands	1,007	1,371	1,648	1,825
West Yorkshire	597	806	830	990
Wiltshire	141	153	206	241

⁽³¹⁾ Full-time equivalents

20 Jan 2004 : Column 1223W

Minority ethnic police officer strength⁽³²⁾ as at 31 March

English police forces	1992(34)	1997	2001	2003(33)
Males
Avon and Somerset	18	25	29	36
Bedfordshire	30	0	27	42
Cambridgeshire	18	20	23	29
Cheshire	1	4	6	8
Cleveland	10	15	17	22
Cumbria	2	1	2	3
Derbyshire	23	30	36	53
Devon and Cornwall	2	4	9	15
Dorset	3	5	7	10
Durham	3	6	12	20
Essex	20	25	23	35
Gloucestershire	10	9	14	17
Greater Manchester	105	137	163	199
Hampshire	13	26	33	40
Hertfordshire	13	16	25	33
Humberside	5	9	8	16
Kent	9	13	35	40
Lancashire	25	26	41	64
Leicestershire	49	66	76	82
Lincolnshire	1	3	8	9
City of London	6	11	14	23
Merseyside	48	61	65	50
Metropolitan police	433	641	840	1,269
Norfolk	0	7	12	14
Northamptonshire	17	25	26	33
Northumbria	11	21	28	45
North Yorkshire	4	7	5	14
Nottinghamshire	40	45	48	68
South Yorkshire	24	58	69	64
Staffordshire	14	21	22	20
Suffolk	4	8	12	18
Surrey	13	17	24	28
Sussex	12	15	22	25
Thames Valley	45	61	71	90
Warwickshire	7	15	18	26
West Mercia	14	23	21	23
West Midlands	145	208	264	315
West Yorkshire	72	108	110	129
Wiltshire	11	11	8	11
Females
Avon and Somerset	5	5	5	8
Bedfordshire	11	12	11	9
Cambridgeshire	8	8	8	6
Cheshire	1	1	3	3
Cleveland	2	2	1	1
Cumbria	0	1	1	2
Derbyshire	4	7	9	9
Devon and Cornwall	0	0	3	6
Dorset	0	0	2	2
Durham	1	2	2	5
Essex	2	6	10	15
Gloucestershire	2	3	2	1
Greater Manchester	21	24	25	37
Hampshire	2	5	6	9
Hertfordshire	5	3	6	10
Humberside	1	2	4	6
Kent	2	5	8	11
Lancashire	5	7	11	12
Leicestershire	5	11	16	15
Lincolnshire	2	2	2	3
City of London	2	8	4	5
Merseyside	9	15	16	12
Metropolitan police	130	184	209	316
Norfolk	0	1	3	2
Northamptonshire	2	5	5	6
Northumbria	2	5	5	7
North Yorkshire	0	5	1
Nottinghamshire	11	16	17	13
South Yorkshire	4	11	15	16
Staffordshire	5	6	8	11
Suffolk	2	4	6	9
Surrey	2	3	7	14
Sussex	4	7	8	8
Thames Valley	12	12	21	28
Warwickshire	2	5	5	5
West Mercia	4	3	2	4.
West Midlands	47	75	112	124
West Yorkshire	17	22	29	34
Wiltshire	2	2	1	1

⁽³²⁾ Headcount

⁽³³⁾ Year 2003 not comparable with previous years as previously published figures exclude officers on career breaks and maternity/paternity leave

⁽³⁴⁾ Full-time equivalent

20 Jan 2004 : Column 1224W

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