Written question asked by David Ruffley (Conservative) on Monday, 31 March 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 April 2008. It was answered by Tony McNulty (Labour) on Monday, 21 April 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British police officers are seconded to (a) Iraq and (b) Afghanistan; what their expected tour of duty is; and what arrangements have been made to cover their operational duties in the UK during their absence overseas.

Answer: There are currently nine serving and six retired UK civilian police officers seconded to Iraq and nine serving and one retired UK civilian police officers seconded to Afghanistan, where they are working in advisory, mentoring and training capacities. The serving officers are from forces in England and Wales, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Ministry of Defence police. The length of their deployments varies from 12 to 18 months.All the serving officers are volunteers who have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan with the consent of their chief constables, who will have been satisfied that their own operational requirements can be fully met during the officers' absence before agreeing to release them for overseas service.

Secondary information