To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many specialist police there are with responsibility for theft and other crimes relating to cultural items in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. (73433)

There is no specific data collected for the number of police officers with responsibility for theft and other crimes relating to cultural items.

As at 31 March 2005, there were 727 full-time equivalent police officers whose main function was “burglary”. This includes staff who predominantly investigate offences of burglary. In the same period there were 16,887 full-time equivalent police officers whose main function was “CID”. This includes staff mainly employed in plain clothes for the investigation of crime, and includes any specialist squads, e.g. robbery.