[holding answer 27 March 2007]: Part-time working in the police service was only introduced in 1992 and then only on an experimental basis. Following successful pilots in six forces part-time working was put on a statutory footing in the Police Regulations 1995.
Information for the number of part-time police officers for 1997 is set out in the following table.
Male Female Avon and Somerset 1 24 Bedfordshire 0 11 Cambridgeshire 1 14 Cheshire 1 25 Cleveland 1 35 Cumbria 0 11 Derbyshire 1 11 Devon and Cornwall 0 39 Dorset 0 18 Durham 0 8 Essex 5 57 Gloucestershire 0 16 Greater Manchester 1 50 Hampshire 0 33 Hertfordshire 0 34 Humberside 1 44 Kent 0 41 Lancashire 0 22 Leicestershire 4 21 Lincolnshire 0 13 London, City of 0 12 Merseyside 0 24 Metropolitan Police 31 366 Norfolk 0 13 Northamptonshire 3 24 Northumbria 3 42 North Yorkshire 0 17 Nottinghamshire 3 34 South Yorkshire 0 28 Staffordshire 0 23 Suffolk 0 10 Surrey 3 29 Sussex 1 39 Thames Valley 2 60 Warwickshire 0 18 West Mercia 2 0 West Midlands 3 89 West Yorkshire 1 52 Wiltshire 0 8 Dyfed-Powys 2 9 Gwent 1 13 North Wales 1 4 South Wales 1 20 England and Wales 73 1461 Source: Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate annual returns by police forces.