Lord Hay of Ballyore: Home Office: Written Answers (22)

Written Question

Police: Employment

Thursday 24th June 2021

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many full-time police officers there were in each police force area in England and Wales in 2020.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The latest officer numbers were released in the publication covering the situation as at 30 September 2020. Data covering the situation as at 31 March 2020 and previous years are available in open data format here: Police workforce open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The number of police officers (full time-equivalent, FTE) in the 43 territorial England and Wales forces as at 30 September 2020 is provided in the table below:

Police Officers, England and Wales As at 30 September, 2020
Force	FTE
Avon & Somerset	2,886
Bedfordshire	1,300
Cambridgeshire	1,597
Cheshire	2,131
Cleveland	1,373
Cumbria	1,229
Derbyshire	1,861
Devon & Cornwall	3,197
Dorset	1,268
Durham	1,168
Dyfed-Powys	1,183
Essex	3,318
Gloucestershire	1,200
Greater Manchester	6,965
Gwent	1,340
Hampshire	2,812
Hertfordshire	2,152
Humberside	2,005
Kent	3,836
Lancashire	3,031
Leicestershire	2,053
Lincolnshire	1,073
London, City of	811
Merseyside	3,659
Metropolitan Police	33,177
Norfolk	1,684
North Wales	1,587
North Yorkshire	1,513
Northamptonshire	1,343
Northumbria	3,309
Nottinghamshire	2,077
South Wales	3,081
South Yorkshire	2,574
Staffordshire	1,681
Suffolk	1,240
Surrey	1,993
Sussex	2,799
Thames Valley	4,415
Warwickshire	1,034
West Mercia	2,256
West Midlands	6,846
West Yorkshire	5,391
Wiltshire	1,019
Total	132,467

While the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin remains the key measure of the size of the police workforce, as part of the Police Officer Uplift Programme, the Home Office also publishes a quarterly update on the number of officers (headcount) in England and Wales. Data are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-officer-uplift-statistics

Written Question

Police Community Support Officers

Thursday 24th June 2021

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many police community support officers there were in each police force area in England and Wales in 2020.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The latest police community support officer numbers were released in the publication covering the situation as at 30 September 2020. Data covering the situation as at 31 March 2020 and previous years are available in open data format here: Police workforce open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The number of police community support officers (full time-equivalent, FTE) in the 43 territorial England and Wales forces as at 30 September 2020 is provided in the table below:

Police Community Support Officers (PCSO), England and Wales As at 30 September, 2020
Force	FTE
Avon & Somerset	315
Bedfordshire	45
Cambridgeshire	70
Cheshire	187
Cleveland	89
Cumbria	67
Derbyshire	191
Devon & Cornwall	188
Dorset	124
Durham	129
Dyfed-Powys	143
Essex	104
Gloucestershire	105
Greater Manchester	552
Gwent	131
Hampshire	214
Hertfordshire	195
Humberside	166
Kent	326
Lancashire	267
Leicestershire	190
Lincolnshire	94
London, City of	5
Merseyside	189
Metropolitan Police	1,260
Norfolk	-00
North Wales	175
North Yorkshire	233
Northamptonshire	88
Northumbria	178
Nottinghamshire	160
South Wales	352
South Yorkshire	138
Staffordshire	219
Suffolk	42
Surrey	156
Sussex	275
Thames Valley	283
Warwickshire	83
West Mercia	217
West Midlands	467
West Yorkshire	576
Wiltshire	125
Total	9,115

Written Question

Police: Employment

Thursday 24th June 2021

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many police constables there were in each police force area in England and Wales in 2019.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The Home Office collects and publishes data on the size and composition of the police workforce in England and Wales on a biannual basis in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: Police workforce England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) The latest officer numbers were released in the publication covering the situation as at 30 September 2020. Data covering the situation as at 31 March 2020 and previous years are available in open data format here: Police workforce open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Total officer numbers are collected and published twice each year covering the situation as at 31 March and 30 September. Data covering officer rank, however, is collected only once and covers the situation as at 31 March. The number of police constables (full time-equivalent, FTE) in the 43 territorial England and Wales forces as at 31 March 2019 is provided in the table below:

Constables, England and Wales As at 31 March 2019
Force	Constables
Avon & Somerset	2,115
Bedfordshire	917
Cambridgeshire	1,155
Cheshire	1,549
Cleveland	941
Cumbria	885
Derbyshire	1,399
Devon & Cornwall	2,228
Dorset	924
Durham	859
Dyfed-Powys	841
Essex	2,425
Gloucestershire	793
Greater Manchester	4,960
Gwent	1,036
Hampshire	2,080
Hertfordshire	1,565
Humberside	1,495
Kent	2,811
Lancashire	2,257
Leicestershire	1,404
Lincolnshire	800
London, City of	535
Merseyside	2,621
Metropolitan Police	24,235
Norfolk	1,237
North Wales	1,104
North Yorkshire	1,057
Northamptonshire	896
Northumbria	2,413
Nottinghamshire	1,516
South Wales	2,271
South Yorkshire	1,860
Staffordshire	1,186
Suffolk	920
Surrey	1,387
Sussex	2,072
Thames Valley	3,204
Warwickshire	614
West Mercia	1,497
West Midlands	5,101
West Yorkshire	4,164
Wiltshire	754
Total	96,084

Written Question

Police: Employment

Thursday 24th June 2021

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many police constables there were in each police force area in England and Wales in 2020.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

Total officer numbers are collected and published twice each year covering the situation as at 31 March and 30 September. Data covering officer rank, however, is collected only once and covers the situation as at 31 March.

The number of police constables (full time-equivalent, FTE) in the 43 territorial England and Wales forces as at 31 March 2020 is provided in the table below:

Constables, England and Wales As at 31 March 2020
Force	Constables
Avon & Somerset	2,197
Bedfordshire	998
Cambridgeshire	1,249
Cheshire	1,622
Cleveland	1,053
Cumbria	939
Derbyshire	1,472
Devon & Cornwall	2,328
Dorset	917
Durham	876
Dyfed-Powys	843
Essex	2,647
Gloucestershire	896
Greater Manchester	5,329
Gwent	1,031
Hampshire	2,058
Hertfordshire	1,628
Humberside	1,549
Kent	2,985
Lancashire	2,320
Leicestershire	1,521
Lincolnshire	774
London, City of	547
Merseyside	2,851
Metropolitan Police	26,077
Norfolk	1,275
North Wales	1,143
North Yorkshire	1,117
Northamptonshire	962
Northumbria	2,481
Nottinghamshire	1,635
South Wales	2,262
South Yorkshire	1,898
Staffordshire	1,291
Suffolk	956
Surrey	1,441
Sussex	2,150
Thames Valley	3,337
Warwickshire	801
West Mercia	1,717
West Midlands	5,120
West Yorkshire	4,363
Wiltshire	758
Total	101,415

Written Question

Police Community Support Officers

Thursday 24th June 2021

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many police community support officers there were in each police force area in England and Wales in 2019.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The number of police community support officers (full time-equivalent, FTE) in the 43 territorial England and Wales forces as at 30 September 2019 is provided in the table below:

Police Community Support Officers (PCSO), England and Wales As at 30 September, 2019
Force	FTE
Avon & Somerset	313
Bedfordshire	51
Cambridgeshire	73
Cheshire	194
Cleveland	128
Cumbria	76
Derbyshire	174
Devon & Cornwall	199
Dorset	115
Durham	126
Dyfed-Powys	144
Essex	111
Gloucestershire	106
Greater Manchester	575
Gwent	129
Hampshire	233
Hertfordshire	209
Humberside	184
Kent	300
Lancashire	248
Leicestershire	177
Lincolnshire	101
London, City of	5
Merseyside	211
Metropolitan Police	1,273
Norfolk	0
North Wales	191
North Yorkshire	178
Northamptonshire	98
Northumbria	215
Nottinghamshire	167
South Wales	365
South Yorkshire	177
Staffordshire	211
Suffolk	42
Surrey	108
Sussex	253
Thames Valley	349
Warwickshire	83
West Mercia	225
West Midlands	436
West Yorkshire	594
Wiltshire	144
Total	9,292

Written Question

Extradition

Tuesday 22nd June 2021

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many UK citizens that have been arrested following extradition requests from other nations were extradited to the country of their arrest in each year since 2018.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

It may assist if the following is explained.

The Home Office processes extradition requests from non-EU territories for individuals believed to be in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland under Part 2 of the Extradition Act 2003.
The Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service processes requests for individuals believed to be in Scotland.
The National Crime Agency processes extradition requests from EU Member States under Part 1 of the Extradition Act 2003 and data relating to these requests is published annually on the NCA website.

Thus, the arrest of an individual sought for extradition would take place in the territory to which a request has been sent. If extradition is to proceed, after the legal process has concluded, and extradition is to proceed, the individual will be extradited to the territory which made the request. As such, the question has been interpreted to reflect those provisions and the response relates only to those extradition requests received by the Home Office.

Twenty British nationals have been extradited to the requesting territory since 2018, eight of whom were dual nationals.

Year	Number extradited	Territory	Number of dual nationals
2021	1	India	N/A
2020	6	USA, the Falkland Islands	3
2019	8	Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, USA	4
2018	5	Albania, Antigua & Barbuda, USA, Peru	1

All figures are from local management information and have not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such they should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change. As implied above, the figures do not include arrests made in Scotland.

Written Question

Antisocial Behaviour and Crime

Monday 26th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of current levels of (1) knife crime, (2) anti-social behaviour, and (3) gun crime, in England and Wales.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The ONS published the findings from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (for year ending March 2020) on 8 September 2020, which included a section on perceptions of anti-social behaviour (ASB) incidents. The report noted that 7% of all adults in England and Wales reported a high-level of perceived ASB, a similar proportion to the year ending March 2019 and an overall reduction in the perception of high-levels of ASB since 2003 (21%). Furthermore, firearms offences recorded by the police in England and Wales decreased by 7% in the year ending September 2020, compared with the previous year (to 6,242 offences). And offences involving the use of knives or sharp instruments decreased by 3% over the same period (to 47,119 offences).

Written Question

Drugs: Misuse

Tuesday 10th November 2020

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) the devolved administrations, and (2) the government of the Republic of Ireland, about legal high psychoactive substances.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (“the 2016 Act”) made it an offence (with limited exceptions) to supply, possess with intent to supply, produce, import or export psychoactive substances. Substances that were previously referred to informally as “legal highs” have been subject to these provisions since the 2016 Act came into force, provided they satisfy the definition of a psychoactive substance and are not exempt under the 2016 Act.

The Home Office regularly engages with the government of the Republic of Ireland on a wide range of topics and we continue to engage with Devolved Administrations on drugs policy. In February this year, the Crime and Policing Minister, Kit Malthouse, held a UK Drugs Summit, bringing together experts and Ministers from all four nations of the United Kingdom. A follow up UK Drugs Ministerial took place in September, continuing the conversation on drug misuse with Ministers and eminent experts from across the UK

Written Question

Crime: Borders

Tuesday 20th October 2020

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the steps being taken to address cross-border crime involving (1) people, and (2) fuel smuggling, between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The UK’s approach to the Common Travel Area (CTA) is that there are no routine immigration controls on journeys to the UK from Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. Both the UK and Irish Governments are committed to taking all necessary measures to continue to protect this joint agreement and secure the CTA.

The Home Office, Ireland’s Garda National Immigration Bureau and Border Management Unit, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and other police forces work together to tackle abuse of the Common Travel Area by conducting intelligence-led checks and enforcement operations.

Our priority will always be to keep the British public safe and we are determined to remove foreign criminals from the UK wherever it is legal and practical to do so.

The Government remains committed to tackling all forms of tax evasion and avoidance. The estimated tax gap for diesel in Northern Ireland remains at 6% maintaining an all-time low.

Extensive multi-agency, cross border cooperation is a key element of the operational response to fuel fraud. HMRC chairs a multi-agency cross border Smuggling Group, a sub-group of the NI Organised Crime Task Force. The group shares intelligence and information, and coordinates targeted joint operations to tackle criminals who deal in illicit fuel and cheat the exchequers in the UK and Ireland.

HMRC has maintained its capacity for fuel testing and investigation of fuel fraud in NI. HMRC activity focuses on detecting and deterring outlets facilitating the supply of illicit fuel, with special units performing risk-based interventions throughout the fuel supply chain; at fuel retailers, wholesalers, and at “huckster” sites.

Written Question

Crime: Rural Areas

Tuesday 12th March 2019

Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of trends in the level of unsolved crime in rural areas across the United Kingdom.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

Justice and policing is devolved to Northern Ireland and Scotland. The Government does not hold relevant data on levels of unsolved crime in rural areas across England and Wales.

Across England and Wales, it is the responsibility of Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to make sure criminal cases are investigated properly. Together with the Crown Prosecution Service they must make sure cases are charged where there is sufficient evidence, and it is in the public interest to do so.