Written question asked by David Evennett (Conservative) on Tuesday, 18 November 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 20 November 2008. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Tuesday, 25 November 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Police: Bexley

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers, (b) police constables, (c) police sergeants and (d) police community support officers were working in the London Borough of Bexley in (i) 2007 and (ii) 2008 to date.

Answer: Police personnel statistics are not collected by borough. Data are collected by basic command unit (BCU), although they are not collected by rank at this level. However, Bexley is a BCU within the Metropolitan Police.BCU figures are published annually as a supplementary table to the Police Service Strength Statistical Bulletin. The current publication can be found at:"http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/policeorg1.html"and previous years' publication can be found in the House of Commons Library.There were 371 full-time equivalent police officers in the BCU of Bexley as at 31 March 2007, and 361 such officers as at 31 March 2008.There were 87 full-time equivalent police community support officers in the BCU of Bexley as at 31 March 2007, and 106 such officers as at 31 March 2008.

Secondary information