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Written question asked by Tony Lloyd (Labour) on Wednesday, 24 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 29 March 2010. It was answered by Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour) on Monday, 29 March 2010 on behalf of the Home Office.

Police: Manpower

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers there were in each year since 1997 and (b) police community support officers there were in each year since 2002 in Greater Manchester Police.
Answer

The available data can be seen in the following tables.The first police community support officers started work in September 2002, following legislation which was introduced as part of the Police Reform Act 2002. Therefore, data on police community support officers are not available prior to 31 March 2003.This and other related data are published annually as part of the annual Police Service Strength Home Office Statistical Bulletin. The latest bulletin can be found at:"http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/policeorg1.html"and bulletins for this and previous years are deposited in the Library of the House.

Police officer strength in Greater Manchester police force, as at 31 March, 1997 to 2009, and September 2009, full-time equivalent¹
Number
1997 6,922
1998 6,949
1999 6,810
2000 6,795
2001 6,909
2002 7,217
2003² 7,343
2004² 8,042
20052 8,041
2006² 7,959
2007² 7,887
2008² 7,931
2009² 8,124
September 20092 8,148
¹ This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. All officers less staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave (comparable with previously published figures). ² 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.
PCSO strength in Greater Manchester police force, as at 31 March, 2002 to 2009, full-time equivalent¹
Number
2002 n/a
2003 160
2004 173
2005 269
2006 251
2007 763
2008 773
2009 782
September 2009 811
¹ This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Notes: 1. Full-time equivalent include those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. 2. Police community support officers were introduced in statute in 2002, therefore data are not available prior to 2002-03.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
508 c688-9W; 324875
Session
2009-10
Subjects
Greater Manchester Police Greater Manchester Police
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk