§ 21. Mr. GROVESasked the Home Secretary what experience in craftsmanship, either in woodwork or engineering, is possessed by the section of the Metropolitan Police responsible for issuing licences to stage coaches, omnibuses, tramcars and taximeter cabs?
§ Sir H. SAMUELAbout 80 per cent. of the police officers engaged in inspecting the vehicles referred to were, before they joined the police service, craftsmen with practical experience, either of mechanical and automobile engineering or of bodybuilding and woodwork generally. The remainder have shown a special aptitude for the work since they joined. Police officers are not promoted to the rank of inspector in this section unless they have successfully passed a course of two years' study at a school of engineering.