To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the relationship between the number of police officers in police forces and their effectiveness in carrying out frontline policing. (322946)

This Government's investment in the police is at record levels. There are nearly 17,000 more police officers than in 1997, and more than 16,000 PCSOs on the streets. Crime is down by 36 per cent. In every area, crime is falling and confidence is increasing. 50 per cent. of the public now agree that the antisocial behaviour and crime issues that matter to them are being dealt with.