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9 July 2007 : Column 1326W—continued

Police: Manpower

Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to her written answer of 22 June 2007 (145928), on police in Chelmsford, how many full-time equivalent police officers in the Chelmsford basic command unit there were, including officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave on 31 March 1997. [147439]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 4 July 2007]: Police strength by police basic command unit was collected centrally for the first time for the period beginning April 2002; therefore the requested data are not available.

Police: Protective Clothing

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the EH20 Escape Hood, with particular reference to its use in a (a) chemical, (b) biological, (c) radiological and (d) nuclear incident; and if she will make a statement; [146637]

(2) what assessment she has made of the cost effectiveness of the EH20 Escape Hood; and if she will make a statement; [146638]

(3) what response she has made to the Police Federation's recommendation that EH20 Escape Hoods should be provided to every police officer; [146639]

(4) what guidance the Association of Chief Police Officers has issued to police forces on the EH20 Escape Hood and its use during times of heightened national security; [146640]

(5) what factors were taken into account in the decision to downgrade the EH20 Escape Hood from the list of personal protective equipment issued to all police officers; [146641]

(6) which police authorities have issued their police officers with EH20 Escape Hoods; and if he will make a statement; [146642]

(7) what discussions she has had with the chief constables of (a) the Metropolitan police, (b) Greater Manchester police, (c) North Yorkshire police, (d) South Yorkshire police, (e) West Yorkshire police and
9 July 2007 : Column 1327W
(f) West Midlands police on the purchasing of the EH20 Escape Hood; and if he will make a statement. [146581]

Mr. McNulty: The Association of Chief Police Officers has drawn to the attention of each force the availability of the EH20 Escape Hood although the purchase and issuing of police equipment is a matter for each individual chief constable.

The contract to manufacture the EH20 Escape Hood was awarded following a competitive tender process which included value for money considerations.

Information on the specific purchases for each police force is not publicised for security reasons.

Police: Recruitment

Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were recruited by each police force area in each year since 2001. [147893]

Mr. McNulty: The available data are from 2002-03 onwards and are given in the following table.

Details on the number of police officer joiners (including those officers transferring from other forces but not those returning after a period of secondment) are published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin series “Police Service Strength, England and Wales”. The latest available bulletin is available for download from:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1306.pdf

9 July 2007 : Column 1328W

Police officer recruits( 1) to police forces from 2002-03 to 2005-06( 2) (FTE)( 3)
	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Avon and Somerset	40	198	93	123
Bedfordshire	89	178	106	67
Cambridgeshire	76	107	99	104
Cheshire	141	153	105	121
Cleveland	129	138	83	114
Cumbria	63	113	51	55
Derbyshire	146	146	64	66
Devon and Cornwall	138	131	200	255
Dorset	72	86	76	102
Durham	21	104	79	71
Essex	40	225	276	224
Gloucestershire	53	98	60	70
Greater Manchester	113	978	233	277
Hampshire	267	282	204	244
Hertfordshire	202	279	155	173
Humberside	56	188	126	93
Kent	192	290	193	209
Lancashire	240	311	148	196
Leicestershire	116	245	123	96
Lincolnshire	64	44	59	59
London, City of	44	52	39	41
Merseyside	101	192	389	161
Metropolitan Police	2,434	2,971	1,886	1,050
Norfolk	71	56	77	55
Northamptonshire	45	99	109	115
Northumbria	151	197	159	122
North Yorkshire	99	82	71	110
Nottinghamshire	89	138	138	54
South Yorkshire	103	261	205	148
Staffordshire	27	123	108	81
Suffolk	81	113	37	45
Surrey	92	116	130	124
Sussex	139	320	229	236
Thames Valley	306	479	361	374
Warwickshire	57	51	59	69
West Mercia	235	88	90	88
West Midlands	478	408	476	442
West Yorkshire	277	337	566	176
Wiltshire	62	120	70	50
Dyfed-Powys	7	53	35	54
Gwent	45	78	102	80
North Wales	77	66	71	51
South Wales	180	173	118	122
(1) Recruits included those officers joining as police standard direct recruits and those who were previously special constables. This excludes police officers on transfers from other forces and those rejoining. (2) Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March inclusive. Data are not available prior to 2002-03. (3) Full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items.

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