Written question asked by Mike Hancock (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 6 May 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 4 October 2004. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Monday, 4 October 2004 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers are seconded to work in Iraq; from what force areas they are seconded; what the periods of their secondment are; at what cost they are employed in Iraq; what plans he has to increase their numbers; and if he will make a statement. - Including figures.

Answer: Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are seconded to work in Iraq; from what force areas they are seconded; what the periods of their secondment are; at what cost they are employed in Iraq; what plans he has to increase their numbers; and if he will make a statement. [172324] Mr. Rammell: I have been asked to reply. There are currently 44 serving UK police officers seconded to the UK Consulate-General in Basra and the UK Embassy in Baghdad. In addition, 65 officers are posted to the Jordan International Police Training Centre near Amman in support of training Iraqi police officers there. These officers are drawn from 36 of the 52 police forces in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and from the Ministry of Defence Police. Their deployments vary from six to 18 months. The cost of supporting these officers in Iraq and Jordan from 1 April to August 2004 is estimated at £2.4 million. There are no current plans to increase these numbers.

Secondary information