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Police Methods

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what proportion of (a) rape and (b) murder investigations by (i) Cleveland police and (ii)other north eastern police forces a scene of crime
 
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officer was automatically despatched to the crime scene in the last period for which figures are available. [207498]

Ms Blears: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Police Numbers

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) police civilian staff each police authority in England and Wales has had in each year since 1995. [204794]

Ms Blears: The information requested is set out in the following tables.
Police officer strength, England and Wales, as at 31 March(Full-time equivalent)

19951996199719981999
Avon and Somerset3,0002,9812,9892,9762,999
Bedfordshire1,1261,1281,0941,0791,041
Cambridgeshire1,2611,2381,3021,2911,274
Cheshire1,9321,9982,0462,0422,071
Cleveland1,4381,4201,4591,4831,416
Cumbria1,1671,1151,1441,1641,126
Derbyshire1,7971,7631,7911,7721,759
Devon and Cornwall2,8772,8992,8652,9622,887
Dorset1,2881,2631,2841,3101,279
Durham1,3531,4011,4611,5151,568
Dyfed-Powys9769911,0051,0021,026
Essex(8)2,9212,8842,9612,9282,891
Gloucestershire1,1631,1331,1331,1041,104
Greater Manchester7,0376,9386,9226,9496,810
Gwent9971,0441,2431,2331,247
Hampshire3,2563,3473,4523,4903,473
Hertfordshire(8)1,7031,7121,7591,7401,724
Humberside2,0292,0412,0452,0211,974
Kent3,1173,1203,2603,2513,201
Lancashire3,2123,1713,2473,2573,245
Leicestershire1,8391,9081,9491,9831,993
Lincolnshire1,1991,1451,1961,1911,140
London, City of885869859825778
Merseyside4,6594,4114,2304,2164,211
Metropolitan Police(8)27,48027,34326,67726,09426,073
Norfolk1,3951,4011,4321,4301,381
North Wales1,3661,3781,3691,3961,391
North Yorkshire1,3001,3241,3381,3671,337
Northamptonshire1,1561,1531,1771,1691,137
Northumbria3,6063,6683,6773,7693,840
Nottinghamshire2,3192,3182,3232,3232,225
South Wales3,0143,0272,9762,9862,981
South Yorkshire3,0403,0733,1593,1823,168
Staffordshire2,2312,2092,2112,2922,238
Suffolk1,1911,1381,1801,1861,190
Surrey(8)1,6761,6441,6201,6081,662
Sussex2,9313,0743,0852,9962,847
Thames Valley3,8543,6743,6953,7763,748
Warwickshire1,013979926924908
West Mercia2,0462,0172,0402,0102,025
West Midlands7,0197,1457,1137,1567,321
West Yorkshire5,0505,1425,2095,1554,982
Wiltshire1,2611,2181,1541,1561,151
Total125,180124,844125,051124,756123,841
Total England and Wales (inc secondments)127,222126,901127,158126,814126,096

200020012002200320042004 (31 August)
Avon and Somerset2,9342,9943,0963,1493,4013,405
Bedfordshire1,0281,0361,0691,1061,1811,172
Cambridgeshire1,2371,2961,3621,3841,4001,409
Cheshire2,0112,0022,0592,1192,1772,145
Cleveland1,4041,4071,4611,5821,6871,616
Cumbria1,0841,0481,1001,1401,2221,231
Derbyshire1,7771,8231,8482,0032,0702,061
Devon and Cornwall2,8412,9343,0533,2023,2833,319
Dorset1,3061,3541,3811,4161,4331,438
Durham1,5581,5951,6141,6511,6851,679
Dyfed-Powys1,0401,0551,1321,1491,1601,165
Essex(8)2,8062,8972,9462,9893,0983,106
Gloucestershire1,1141,1731,1831,2271,2841,261
Greater Manchester6,7956,9097,2177,3438,0428,061
Gwent1,2641,2741,3331,3411,3721,394
Hampshire3,4193,4383,4803,6683,7063,727
Hertfordshire(8)1,7671,9221,8251,9572,0862,124
Humberside1,9321,9172,0582,1052,2132,230
Kent3,2043,3193,3553,4873,5763,530
Lancashire3,1793,2553,3043,3393,5503,567
Leicestershire1,9932,0322,1002,1142,2772,257
Lincolnshire1,1151,2021,1981,2211,2281,211
London, City of732703764808853866
Merseyside4,0854,0814,1254,0994,1224,278
Metropolitan Police(8)25,48524,87826,22327,98429,73530,021
Norfolk1,3811,4201,4681,4991,5101,517
North Wales1,4031,4441,5061,5391,6031,591
North Yorkshire1,2831,3051,4171,4441,5291,535
Northamptonshire1,1171,1571,2141,2101,2391,263
Northumbria3,7883,8573,9293,9434,0404,056
Nottinghamshire2,2042,2752,3302,4112,4842,523
South Wales2,9263,1543,2223,2393,2793,264
South Yorkshire3,1633,1973,1993,1833,2793,292
Staffordshire2,1702,1292,1332,2022,2662,274
Suffolk1,1451,1331,2031,2531,3041,302
Surrey(8)1,7852,0661,9921,9061,9131,912
Sussex2,8222,8552,8932,9893,0393,062
Thames Valley3,7403,7033,7623,8334,0344,139
Warwickshire9009269699971,008995
West Mercia1,8871,9512,0182,2562,3552,349
West Midlands7,1947,4237,6817,7517,8878,039
West Yorkshire4,8224,8154,8895,0295,2755,370
Wiltshire1,1181,1201,1571,1581,2171,200
Total121,956123,476127,267131,426137,105137,956
Total England and Wales (inc secondments)124,170125,682129,603133,366139,200139,728


(8) Boundary changes on 1 April 2000 between the Metropolitan Police (MPS), Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey reduced the strength of the MPS in 2000–01.
Note:
Officers on career breaks and maternity/paternity leave over 28days are excluded.





 
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Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community support officers there are in each police authority in England and Wales. [204797]

Ms Blears: The number of community support officers (CSOs) on patrol in each police authority in England and Wales on 30 September 2004 is shown in the following table. I wrote to all hon. Members on 23 November 2004 setting out the number of additional posts we intended to fund from the first round of the Neighbourhood Policing Fund. This is an additional £50 million we announced in the summer to guarantee that the number of community support officers reaches at least 5,500 by 31 March 2005. We further intend that the number of CSOs should reach 24,000 by March 2008.
 
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Number of Community Support Officers (CSOs),England and Wales


Police Authority		CSOs on Patrol at 30 September 2004
Avon and Somerset75
Bedfordshire27
Cambridgeshire60
Cheshire46
City of London0
Cleveland75
Cumbria0
Derbyshire0
Devon and Cornwall59
Dorset20
Durham36
Dyfed-Powys11
Essex75
Gloucestershire50
Greater Manchester188
Gwent47
Hampshire0
Hertfordshire70
Humberside0
Kent63
Lancashire118
Leicestershire57
Lincolnshire44
Merseyside82
Metropolitan1,809
Norfolk57
North Wales8
North Yorkshire49
Northamptonshire23
Northumbria51
Nottinghamshire69
South Wales64
South Yorkshire56
Staffordshire13
Suffolk15
Surrey75
Sussex149
Thames Valley7
Warwickshire45
West Mercia70
West Midlands104
West Yorkshire282
Wiltshire20
Total4,169

Claire Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in Hertfordshire in (a) 1995 and (b) 2004; and if he will make a statement on the percentage change in funding of the police service during that period. [207569]

Ms Blears: On 31 March 1995 there were 1,703 police officers in the Hertfordshire Constabulary. The latest figure, for 31 August 2004, is 2,124 officers, an increase of 421, or 24.7 per cent.

The increase in officer numbers and funding for Hertfordshire Police Authority was affected by changes to the boundaries of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 1 April 2000, when parts of the Metropolitan Police District were transferred to Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey. The effects of the boundary changes were incorporated into the police funding formula and the overall transfer was in terms of financial resources, not officers.
 
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However, 183 MPS officers were seconded to Hertfordshire on 1 April 2000 for up to two years to assist with policing while Hertfordshire Constabulary arranged to recruit its own officers for the expanded force area.

General grants (comprised of Home Office principal Police Grant, Revenue Support Grant and redistributed business rates) to Hertfordshire Police Authority have increased by 45.4 per cent. between 1995–96 and 2004–05.

In addition to general Government grants, Hertfordshire Police Authority has also benefited from specific grants for targeted programmes, first introduced in 2000–01, such as the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF), to increase and maintain the number of police officers. Hertfordshire has had CFF funding to support the recruitment of 113 additional police officers.

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent police officers are employed in the metropolitan police force; and what the figure was five years ago. [210315]


 
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Ms Blears: At the end of August 2004 there were 30,021 police officers in the metropolitan police service, compared with 25,485 in March 2000. Following boundary changes on 1 April 2000 with Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey, the metropolitan police district was reduced in size and some resources were transferred to the other three forces. Metropolitan police service strength data prior to April 2000 is therefore not comparable with later data.

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables are serving in the metropolitan police force. [210316]

Ms Blears: The metropolitan police service had 726 special constables serving at 31 December 2004.

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