Police: Essex

Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many (a) police officers and (b) civilian staff of each (i) age group and (ii) sex were employed by Essex police in (A) 2007, (B) 2008 and (C) 2009 to date; (275588)

(2) how many (a) police officers and (b) civilian staff were employed by Essex Police Authority in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008 and (iii) to date in 2009, broken down by (A) age and (B) sex.

The information collected centrally shows the number of police officers and civilian staff employed by Essex police on 31 March 2007 and 31 March 2008, broken down by four age groups (25 and under; 26 to 40; 41 to 55; and over 55) and sex. It is shown in the following table. Corresponding figures for 31 March 2009 will be available when the National Statistics bulletin Police Service Personnel, England and Wales, 31 March 2009, is published on 23 July 2009.

Separate figures for officers and staff employed by Essex police authority are not collected centrally.

*Number of police officers and staff employed by Essex police: 2007-08*
	Age group (HC)		Gender (FTE)
	25 and under	25-40	41-55	Over 55	Total (HC)¹	Male	Female	Total (FTE)¹
31 March 2007
Police officers	517	1592	1267	21	3397	2480	860	3340
Police staff²	374	749	939	550	2612	948	1434	2382
31 March 2008
Police officers	527	1686	1209	23	3445	2479	906	3385
Police staff²	391	802	954	594	2741	989	1512	2501
¹ Age group figures presented in terms of head-count (HC) as the more commonly used full time equivalent (FTE) measures not collected. ² Police staff figures include police community support officers, designated officers and traffic wardens.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) operational police officers per head of population there are in Essex Police; what recent discussions she has had with the chief constable of Essex police on this issue; and if she will make a statement. (275589)

Latest available figures for police officers and operational police officers per head of population as at 31 March 2008 are shown in the following table. Deployment is not an issue that we would discuss. It is for the chief constable and the Essex Police Authority to reach decisions on the allocation of resources. We understand from the chief constable that over the next three to five years Operation Apex will increase the number of police officers by around 600.

*Number of officers and operational officers employed by Essex police on 31 March 2008*
	Number (full-time equivalent)	Rate per 100,000 population
Total police officers	3,385	203
Of which:
Operational police officers¹	3,265	196
¹ Any officer whose primary role (i.e. over 50 per cent. of their time) is directly to deliver the overarching aims of the police service.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she next plans to visit Essex Police Authority area; and if she will make a statement. (275590)

The Home Secretary has no current plans to visit Essex, having visited the force in November last year. I visited Colchester in April this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when representatives of her Department last visited Essex Police Authority area; what issues were discussed; and if she will make a statement. (275592)

I visited Essex on 9 April this year, while there I saw the SOS bus and visited Colchester police station.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions representatives of her Department have had with representatives of Essex Police Authority since December 2008 on the release of information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and if she will make a statement. (275593)

There have been no conversations between Home Office Ministers or officials and Essex police authority on the release of information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 since December 2008.

Volume 492: debated on Wednesday 20 May 2009