§ 30. Mr. GILBERTasked the Home Secretary whether any reductions have recently been made in the annual clothing and boot allowances made to the members of the Metropolitan Police force; if so, can he state approximately what the annual value of the reduction will be to an officer and constable of this force; and will he state what is the total estimated annual saving to be made in these reductions on the whole force?
§ Mr. SHORTTThe boot allowance has been reduced by £2 12s. per annum (from 2s. to 1s. weekly) for all ranks. The anticipated saving amounts to £50,000 for the year. The reductions in the plain clothes allowances amount to £6 per annum (£16 as against £22) in the case of inspectors and £5 4s. per annum (5s. weekly as against 7s. weekly) in the ease of sergeants and constables. Only a small proportion of the force is affected by these reductions. The anticipated saving amounts to £6,000 for the year.
§ 32. Viscount CURZONasked the Home Secretary what are the regulations with regard to Metropolitan Police on point duty wearing white gloves; whether he is aware of the experiments being carried out in provincial towns with white overalls and of the difficulty of distinguishing the signals of the officers in blue at badly-lighted points in the Metropolis; and whether he will consider experimenting with light-coloured overalls in the interests of the safety of the police and the public generally?
§ Mr. SHORTTWhite gloves are supplied for each permanent traffic point. The question of supplying white overalls has been considered, but the Commissioner is of opinion that they would not be suitable for point duty under the conditions of London traffic.
Mr. J. JONESWill the right hon. Gentleman consider the advisability of providing white sheets for people who continuously furiously drive?
§ Sir J. REMNANTCan the right hon. Gentleman say whether these gloves are supplied free?
§ Mr. SHORTTI expect so; but I can ascertain.
§ Mr. SHORTTThat depends upon the condition of the person.