Written question asked by Ivan Henderson (Labour) on Wednesday, 21 July 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 8 September 2004. It was answered by Hazel Blears (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 September 2004 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to increase the number of community support officers in Essex. - Inc figs. (Holding answer 7 September 2004).

Answer: Mr. Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase the number of community support officers in Essex. [186316] Ms Blears: [holding answer 7 September 2004]: Home Office officials wrote to all chief officers on 20 August inviting bids for a share of the £50 million which was announced in the Home Office Strategic Plan to kick- start the Neighbourhood Policing Fund. This will allow police forces to recruit additional Community Support Officers (CSOs) in this financial year and we expect that 5,500 will be in place by the end of March 2005. It will be for the chief constable of Essex and his police authority to decide how many extra CSOs they wish to bid for. The Government have set a target of 20,000 additional CSOs by the end of 2007-08 and further details of how we plan to achieve this will be published in time for the 2006-07 planning round.

Secondary information