[holding answer 25 June 2007]: The available data are given in the following table. The officers in the table are predominantly employed either as pilots, ground crew, air observers or in administrative functions connected with air support, as well as other supporting roles. A number of police staff are also involved in these roles, but are not included in the table.
As at 31 March 2006 Avon and Somerset 7 Bedfordshire 4 Cambridgeshire 6 Cheshire 5 Cleveland 6 Cumbria 0 Derbyshire 5 Devon and Cornwall 6 Dorset 11 Durham 4 Essex 8 Gloucestershire 3 Greater Manchester 22 Hampshire 6 Hertfordshire 4 Humberside 10 Kent 0 Lancashire 11 Leicestershire 3 Lincolnshire 0 London, City of 0 Merseyside 13 Metropolitan police 20 Norfolk 2 Northamptonshire 3 Northumbria 10 North Yorkshire 0 Nottinghamshire 5 South Yorkshire 11 Staffordshire 4 Suffolk 7 Surrey 8 Sussex 4 Thames Valley 9 Warwickshire 3 West Mercia 3 West Midlands 12 West Yorkshire 14 Wiltshire 4 Dyfed-Powys 7 Gwent 5 North Wales 9 South Wales 5 1 This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between the totals in this table and totals in similar published tables. 2 Staff with multiple responsibilities (or designations) are recorded under their primary role or function. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for individual chief constables.
[holding answer 25 June 2007]: The Home Office has provided the following sums, in capital grant for Air Support, to Authorities over the past five years. Where Consortia have bid for funding, the allocation is listed against the ‘Lead’ Force.
Force Consortium Funding (£) Avon and Somerset Western Counties 25,000 Bedfordshire Chiltern 1— Cambridgeshire East Anglia 1,421,000 Cheshire 374,000 Cleveland North East 2— Cumbria 5— Derbyshire North Midlands 861,000 Devon and Cornwall 1,236,000 Dorset 222,000 Durham North East 2— Dyfed-Powys 280,000 Essex 92,000 Gloucestershire Western Counties 3— Greater Manchester 787,000 Gwent S and E Wales 4— Hampshire Hertfordshire Chiltern 1— Humberside 243,000 Kent 5— Lancashire Leicestershire East Midlands 1,491,000 Lincolnshire 5— Merseyside 24,000 Metropolitan Police 7,886,000 Norfolk 6— Northamptonshire East Midlands 7— Northumbria North East 547,000 North Wales 261,000 North Yorkshire 5— Nottinghamshire North Midlands 8— South Wales S and E Wales 6— South Yorkshire 392,000 Staffordshire Central Counties 9— Suffolk East Anglia 37,000 Surrey 924,000 Sussex 67,000 Thames Valley Chiltern 851,000 Warwickshire East Midlands 7— West Mercia Central Counties 8,000 West Midlands 1,726,000 West Yorkshire 367,000 Wiltshire 6— 1 See Thames Valley 2 See Northumbria 3 See Avon and Somerset 4 See South Wales 5 No ASU 6 Leased aircraft 7 See Leics 8 See Derbyshire 9 See West Mercia