HC Deb 02 December 1948 vol 458 cc2160-2
30. Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why 137 war reservists are being dismissed from the Metropolitan Police.

31. Mr. Gammans

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why, in view of the continued shortage of policemen and the present crime wave, he is persisting in dismissing all the war reserve police at the end of this year.

Mr. Ede

The decision to disband the Police War Reserve at the end of this year was reached after full consideration had been given, in consultation with representative chief officers of police, to the effect this decision would be likely to have on the police resources available. The main considerations borne in mind were that it would be wrong to continue indefinitely the provisions of Defence Regulations dealing with the appointment of constables during the period of national emergency, that those members of the Reserve who were most suitable for police duties and wished to remain have already been absorbed into the regular forces and that it would not be fair to the remaining men themselves to retain them for a further period in a temporary employment which will be bound to come to an end as regular establishments are filled. I would like to take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation and thanks to the Police War Reserve for the manner in which they have discharged their duties since the beginning of the war.

Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

Are we to assume from that answer that it is not the intention of the authorities to retain the services of all those war reservists to whom notices have now been given?

Mr. Ede

Not as regular members of the police force, but in some cases it may be possible to employ them on certain auxiliary duties.

Mr. Gammans

What could be more fantastic, when the Metropolitan Police are nearly 5,000 short and when the crime wave shows no signs of abating, than that these men who are trained and who want to stay on, should be sacked?

Mr. Ede

The number affected in the Metropolitan Police is 130. All those who are really capable of performing efficient active service in the police force have been absorbed.

Mr. Gammans

Could not some of these men be employed on traffic duties or in these traffic boxes which we find all over London, and so release more able-bodied men?

Mr. Ede

I said a few weeks ago that I cannot regard traffic duty as being suitable for any other than an active man. The answer I gave to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Brixton (Lieut.-Colonel Lipton) indicates that some of these men will be retained in auxiliary services.

Mr. E. Fletcher

Is it not a fact that this decision has been taken against the advice of a number of the senior officers of the Metropolitan Police, and that most of these men are anxious to remain in the police force and render service?

Mr. Ede

The suggestion in the first part of my hon. Friend's supplementary question is not correct. Where men are capable of performing duties analogous to police duties, we shall endeavour to retain their services.

Mr. Sargood

Can the right hon. Gentleman say whether the term "unsuitable" refers to physical defects?

Mr. Ede

I think that in most cases that would be true.