Police stations, closures and cells
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.029824
I note you seek access to the following information:
Could you please provide me with the following information:
1. The number of police stations in your force area
2. The number of police stations in your force area which have closed down since 2011 (please state if any have subsequently reopened)
3. The number of cells available for permanent use in your force area
4. The number of cells mothballed or in only temporary use in your force area
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.
Please find below information pursuant to your request above.
Q1 - The number of police stations in your force area
A police station is defined as an operational building with a publically accessible front counter. As of the 24/4/2023 the number of police stations open currently is 36.
Q2 - The number of police stations in your force area which have closed down since 2011 (please state if any have subsequently reopened)
The number of police stations open at the end of 2011 was 136. We have therefore closed public access in 100 buildings since 2011. However, not all of these buildings have been disposed of, and therefore some remain in operational use.
Q3 - The number of cells available for permanent use in your force area
We have 602 cells available across 28 sites. We also have a further 8 suites, known as contingency suites with 139 cells for any surge demand. All of these number are subject to repairs and building works at any time, impacting on the availability.
Q4 - The number of cells mothballed or in only temporary use in your force area
At any one time a number some sites are closed for repair works, need a clean or unavailable due to staff issues so the number available varies day by day.
We only record live and contingency suites because any others would just be treated as a vacant or are in a building awaiting refurbishment to be used as something else. We do not have mothballed suites as a recorded space type. Mothballed means closed and secured in a way it is retained so it could be brought back into use at a later date and we do not have an intention of bringing any that are fully closed back. Where we have a suite that has been closed and will no longer be used it is changed as soon as we do a refurbishment at that site into a useable space.