30 Jan 2008 : Column 389W—continued
Police Stations
Mr. Hoban:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 20 November 2007, Official Report, column 680W, on police stations, what information her Department holds on the number of stations that have closed. [173146]
Mr. McNulty:
Information on the number of police stations opened and closed in England and Wales has been collected centrally from police authorities via a yearly survey. Due to the changes in the use of police buildings it has proved to be difficult to obtain comprehensive information as to the number of police stations in use and of the number opening and closing in any year.
Mr. Hoban:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) police stations there were in each parliamentary constituency in (i) 1997, (ii) 2001, (iii) 2005 and (iv) 2006. [178562]
Mr. McNulty:
The information requested is as follows.
30 Jan 2008 : Column 390W
(a) Information on police numbers is published annually in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin series “Police Service Strength, England and Wales.” The bulletins are available in the Library of the House, and can be downloaded from the publications link within the Research Development and Statistics directorate website located at:
The available data are at the police force level and are given in the table.
(b) The management of the police estate and allocation of resources are matters for each police authority and the chief officer, who are responsible for assessing local needs. The Home Office does not have reliable data submitted by all forces on the total number of police stations.
| Police officer strength( 1) (FTE)( 2) by police force as at 31 March 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2006 |
| Police force | 31 March 1997( 3) | 31 March 2001( 4) | 31 March 2005( 5) | 31 March 2006( 5) |
|
Avon and Somerset
|
2,989
|
2,994
|
3,384
|
3,389
|
|
Bedfordshire
|
1,094
|
1,036
|
1,215
|
1,198
|
|
Cambridgeshire
|
1,302
|
1,296
|
1,402
|
1,430
|
|
Cheshire
|
2,046
|
2,002
|
2,186
|
2,174
|
|
Cleveland
|
1,459
|
1,407
|
1,676
|
1,677
|
|
Cumbria
|
1,144
|
1,048
|
1,232
|
1,230
|
|
Derbyshire
|
1,791
|
1,823
|
2,070
|
2,046
|
|
Devon and Cornwall
|
2,865
|
2,934
|
3,369
|
3,493
|
|
Dorset
|
1,284
|
1,354
|
1,450
|
1,485
|
|
Durham
|
1,461
|
1,595
|
1,718
|
1,699
|
|
Essex
|
2,961
|
2,897
|
3,190
|
3,279
|
|
Gloucestershire
|
1,133
|
1,173
|
1,291
|
1,289
|
|
Greater Manchester
|
6,922
|
6,909
|
8,041
|
7,959
|
|
Hampshire
|
3,452
|
3,438
|
3,725
|
3,707
|
|
Hertfordshire
|
1,759
|
1,922
|
2,104
|
2,126
|
|
Humberside
|
2,045
|
1,917
|
2,230
|
2,224
|
|
Kent
|
3,260
|
3,319
|
3,586
|
3,599
|
|
Lancashire
|
3,248
|
3,255
|
3.551
|
3,583
|
|
Leicestershire
|
1,949
|
2,032
|
2,283
|
2,250
|
|
Lincolnshire
|
1,196
|
1,202
|
1,221
|
1,213
|
|
London, City of
|
859
|
703
|
876
|
869
|
|
Merseyside
|
4,230
|
4,081
|
4,317
|
4,269
|
|
Metropolitan Police
|
26,677
|
24,878
|
30,710
|
30,536
|
|
Norfolk
|
1,432
|
1,420
|
1,544
|
1,557
|
|
Northamptonshire
|
1,177
|
1,157
|
1,267
|
1,317
|
|
Northumbria
|
3,677
|
3,857
|
4,048
|
3,983
|
|
North Yorkshire
|
1,338
|
1,305
|
1,543
|
1,636
|
|
Nottinghamshire
|
2,323
|
2,275
|
2,502
|
2,477
|
|
South Yorkshire
|
3,159
|
3,197
|
3,265
|
3,255
|
|
Staffordshire
|
2,211
|
2,129
|
2,280
|
2,272
|
|
Suffolk
|
1,174
|
1,133
|
1,313
|
1,300
|
|
Surrey
|
1,620
|
2,066
|
1,915
|
1,922
|
|
Sussex
|
3,085
|
2,855
|
3,044
|
3,092
|
|
Thames Valley
|
3,695
|
3,703
|
4,114
|
4,229
|
|
Warwickshire
|
926
|
926
|
1,011
|
1,032
|
|
West Mercia
|
2,040
|
1,951
|
2,367
|
2,351
|
|
West Midlands
|
7,113
|
7,423
|
8,056
|
8,097
|
|
West Yorkshire
|
5,209
|
4,815
|
5,631
|
5,644
|
|
Wiltshire
|
1,154
|
1,120
|
1,222
|
1,219
|
30 Jan 2008 : Column 391W
|
Dyfed-Powys
|
1,005
|
1,055
|
1,174
|
1,182
|
|
Gwent
|
1,243
|
1,274
|
1,438
|
1,467
|
|
North Wales
|
1,369
|
1,444
|
1,652
|
1,617
|
|
South Wales
|
2,976
|
3,154
|
3,281
|
3,263
|
(1) This table contains 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.
(2) Full-time equivalent excludes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.
(3) Boundary changes on 1 April 1996 transferred resources for the policing of the Rhmney Valley from South Wales police to Gwent police.
(4) Boundary changes on 1 April 2000 transferred some resources from the Metropolitan police to Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey police forces.
(5) Comparable strength (excludes those on career breaks, or maternity/paternity leave). The Police Numbers Task Force (2001) recommended that a clear presentation was made of the numbers of staff employed by police forces including those seconded into the force and those on any type of long or short term absence. These new calculations were first used in 2003, and are not comparable with data prior to March 2003. The data from 2003 onwards used here are termed comparable because they have been calculated on the old basis to allow comparison.
|
Police: Firearms
Mr. Ruffley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have received injuries from firearms while on duty (a) in England and Wales and (b) broken down by police force area in each year since 1997. [176074]
Mr. McNulty:
Data on crimes recorded by the police in which a police officer on duty was injured by a firearm (excluding air weapons) from 1997-98 up to and including 2005-06 and are given in the table.
