Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of volunteers working alongside the police in each of the last 10 years.
The Home Office does not collect figures on the number of volunteers who work alongside the police.
However, the Home Office does collect and publish statistics on the number of special constables in England and Wales. Figures for the last ten years can be found in table 3 of the latest ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical release, which can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tables-for-police-workforce-england-and-wales-31-march-2014.