§ 34. Mr. Gammansasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of the Metropolitan Police Force have resigned since 1st January, 1948, because of lack of living accommodation for married police officers and those wishing to marry.
§ Mr. EdeThirty-three members of the Metropolitan Police Force who have resigned since 1st January, 1948, gave housing difficulties as their main reason for resigning. No estimate can be given of the number of resignations, mainly attributable to other reasons, in which lack of accommodation was a contributory factor.
§ Mr. GammansHas not the right hon. Gentleman reason to believe that perhaps his main difficulty in maintaining the numbers in the Metropolitan Police is the lack of housing?
§ Mr. EdeI am not quite sure that it is the main difficulty, although it is a very serious difficulty. I am very glad to say that the allocation to the police of housing accommodation for the current year will enable me to make a very substantial contribution towards relieving the difficulty.
§ Mr. W. J. BrownIs the Home Secretary satisfied that he is getting the degree of priority that he ought to get from local authorities in this matter?—because it is a common experience that housing is a very important part of the difficulty.
§ Mr. EdeThe help I alluded to in my answer to the previous supplementary question was the building that local police authorities will be able to do because of the allocation of housing to local police authorities. I shall still welcome greater co-operation on the part of housing authorities because, for one thing, I do not desire to have to erect terraces of policemen's houses; I think it is advantageous to all concerned if policemen can be placed in single houses dotted about among the rest of the community.