Written question asked by Claire Curtis-Thomas (Labour) on Thursday, 22 May 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 5 June 2003. It was answered by Bob Ainsworth (Labour) on Thursday, 5 June 2003 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers per head of population were in post in Merseyside in each year since 1995. - Includes table.

Answer: Mrs Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers per head of population were in post in Merseyside in each year since 1995. [116475] Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The table sets out the ratio of police officers to the population. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Year 1 Number of population to one police officer March 1995 306 March 1996 322 March 1997 337 March 1998 337 March 1999 336 March 2000 345 March 2001 344 March 2002 340 September 2002 331 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Calculations are based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) population statistics Merseyside police has one of the lowest ratios of population to police officers. In September 2002 only the Metropolitan police and West Midlands police had lower ratios. The average ratio of population per police officer for England and Wales in 1995 was 413 and in September 2002 it was 402.

Secondary information