Fire Services: Manpower Mr. Vara To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many firefighters were employed at fire stations in (a) each local authority area in the East of England and (b) England in each of the last 10 years. Mr. Malik The numbers of firefighters based at fire stations is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The total numbers of whole-time and retained firefighters for each fire authority is held centrally and are shown in the following tables for (a) fire authorities in the east of England and (b) England. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1999 |2000 |2001 |2002 |2003 |2004 |2005 |2006 |2007 |2008 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bedfordshire and Luton |315 |305 |326 |334 |319 |330 |323 |317 |321 |330 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Cambridgeshire |263 |263 |276 |274 |273 |285 |273 |258 |277 |278 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Essex |914 |923 |937 |948 |937 |920 |936 |981 |945 |943 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Hertfordshire |557 |581 |565 |570 |564 |574 |564 |569 |560 |575 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Norfolk |282 |298 |310 |308 |288 |295 |281 |303 |306 |302 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Suffolk |256 |249 |248 |253 |250 |244 |257 |272 |257 |259 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |East of England |2,587 |2,619 |2,662 |2,687 |2,631 |2,648 |2,634 |2,700 |2,666 |2,687 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |England |31,918|31,615|31,597|31,592|31,631|31,856|31,053|30,744|30,804|30,824| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Sources:(i) HM Chief Inspector for Fire's Annual Report and(ii) Fire and Rescue Service Operational Statistics Bulletin| | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1999 |2000 |2001 |2002 |2003 |2004 |2005 |2006 |2007 |2008 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bedfordshire and Luton |131 |126 |138 |151 |139 |106 |150 |154 |157 |170 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Cambridgeshire |365 |364 |371 |344 |327 |350 |369 |373 |365 |354 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Essex |457 |460 |464 |477 |472 |475 |488 |534 |548 |543 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Hertfordshire |267 |266 |265 |261 |208 |268 |257 |261 |228 |256 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Norfolk |448 |443 |443 |405 |426 |435 |501 |514 |527 |534 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Suffolk |400 |396 |404 |401 |415 |399 |425 |452 |487 |493 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |East of England |2,068 |2,055 |2,085 |2,039 |1,987 |2,033 |2,190 |2,288 |2,312 |2,350 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |England |13,022|13,021|13,097|13,002|13,048|13,015|13,543|13,927|14,212|14,166| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Sources:(i) HM Chief Inspector for Fire's Annual Report and(ii) Fire and Rescue Service Operational Statistics Bulletin| | | | | | | | | | | 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