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3 Nov 2008 : Column 34W—continued

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to respond to the letter to her dated 8th September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms Linda James. [231190]

Jacqui Smith: I replied to my right hon. Friend for Manchester, Gorton on 30 October 2008.

Metropolitan Police: Special Constables

Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there were in the Metropolitan Police Authority area in each year since 2004, broken down by police division; and how many special constables there were in (a) the London borough of Hillingdon and (b) Uxbridge constituency in each year. [231712]

Mr. Coaker: The available data are given in the following table.

Police service strength data are not available by London borough or constituency, and are collected at the police force and Basic Command Unit (BCU) levels only. Within the Metropolitan Police Service area however, the boundaries for boroughs and BCUs are coterminous.

Special Constables (headcount)( 1) in the Metropolitan Police service by Basic Command unit as at 31 March 2004 to 31 March 2008
	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Barking and Dagenham	14	10	21	28	53
Barnet	38	35	73	94	124
Bexley	74	81	103	101	89
Brent	29	27	29	19	43
Bromley	12	10	24	47	78
Camden	28	22	52	78	134
Central Services	18	26	35	114	162
City of Westminster	85	81	166	251	256
Croydon	17	14	20	36	67
Ealing	21	14	24	37	78
Enfield	20	17	23	30	64
Greenwich	17	7	42	44	75
Hackney	12	9	19	25	42
Hammersmith and Fulham	20	19	44	58	72
Haringey	13	14	27	43	46
Harrow	13	10	22	52	71
Havering	29	33	41	52	80
Heathrow	7	12	16	17	17
Hillingdon	15	15	22	38	64
Hounslow	18	15	23	21	35
Islington	39	35	32	40	73
Kensington and Chelsea	14	20	37	51	134
Kingston upon Thames	15	13	32	40	63
Lambeth	20	20	35	42	58
Lewisham	13	9	33	42	45
Merton	17	17	21	19	33
Newham	16	15	23	42	66
Redbridge	17	16	34	54	86
Richmond upon Thames	19	17	25	36	43
Southwark	18	9	25	36	52
Sutton	6	4	11	25	29
Tower Hamlets	17	20	34	36	54
Waltham Forest	16	10	19	25	29
Wandsworth	15	21	34	68	95
Metropolitan Police Service	742	697	1,221	1,741	2,510
(1) Special constable figures are given as headcount measures.

Plain English

Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent by her Department on Plain English Campaign training courses for its staff in each year since 2005. [230614]

Mr. Woolas: The Home Office spend on Plain English Campaign training courses for the financial years 2005-06 to 2007-08 is as follows.

	£
2005-06	20,890.32
2006-07	5,896.03
2007-08	1,527.50

The Home Office holds corporate membership of the Plain English Campaign. It promotes the use of plain English in all replies sent from the Department, and is committed to the use of plain English.

Police: Dorset

Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many front line police officers there were in Bournemouth and Poole in each of the last 10 years. [231658]

Mr. Coaker [holding answer 30 October 2008]: The number of officers and police staff and their deployment to operational and non-operational activities is a matter for the Chief Constable. The following table sets out the
3 Nov 2008 : Column 35W
number of police officers in the Bournemouth and Poole basic command units for each year since data was first collected.

Bournemouth and Poole Basic Command Units( 1)
As at 31 March each year	Bournemouth	Poole
2002	296	183
2003	318	180
2004	322	186
2005	317	187
2006	319	176
2007	315	215
2008	317	190
(1) All figures are full-time equivalent strength.

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