Police (Hansard, 15 January 1976)

§ 4. Mr. Jessel
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on present trends in Metropolitan Police recruitment.

§ 12. Mr. Goodhart
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the present strength of the Metropolitan Police Force.

§ 21. Mr. Hardy
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department by how many and by what proportion police forces in England and Wales are below strength, both at the latest date for which figures are available and for one year earlier.

§ Mr. Roy Jenkins
There has been a substantial increase in the rate of recruitment to the Metropolitan Police during 1975. The strength on 30th November was 21,200, a gain of 350 in the first 11 months of the year.
In England and Wales as a whole, there were on 30th November 1975 10,701 vacancies, a deficiency of 9.1 per cent.
562 On 30th November 1974 the figures were 14,088 and 12.2 per cent.

§ Mr. Jessel
Although we all welcome this upsurge in police recruitment figures and congratulate the police on their impressive achievements, especially within the last few weeks, can the Home Secretary estimate how far the improvement is due to a positive wish to join the police and how far it is due to a fall in other job opportunities due to economic conditions outside the force? Are the Government doing anything tangible to ensure that the new recruits stay in the force if and when the economy picks up again?

§ Mr. Jenkins
No, Sir, I very much doubt whether such an estimate from me or anyone else would be of great value to the hon. Gentleman, or to the House, or the nation. Obviously, varying factors are at work here. It must be said, however, that, apart from fluctuations in the employment prospects, the position concerning the police generally has improved substantially. When I was first Home Secretary, just over 10 years ago, there were 80,000 policemen in this country. We now have just about on 107,000. That has been a big change over a 10-year period. It is extremely important that we not only recruit but retain people. This depends on a substantial number of factors.

§ Mr. Russell Kerr
A police State.

§ Mr. Jenkins
I think that my hon. Friend the Member for Feltham and Heston (Mr. Kerr) is mistaken if he thinks that recruiting police up to complement amounts to having a police State. It depends on a number of things. I should have thought that my hon. Friend was greatly at variance with public opinion if he did not think it desirable to get an adequate number of policemen to do the job.

§ Mr. Hardy
As improving rates of detection and conviction rather than dramatic punishments are the best response to crime, is my right hon. Friend aware that his reply must be regarded as being as encouraging as have been the commendable achievements of policemen in recent months?

§ Mr. Jenkins
It is important to pay regard not only to numbers but to the 563 achievements of the police. I am glad that my hon. Friend and the hon. Member for Twickenham (Mr. Jessel) drew attention to this. Events in London, particularly at the end of 1975, were a triumph for the police and a tribute to methods that were a combination of skill and patience, which have been a particular characteristic of the police in this country. This was a great vindication of those methods.

§ Mr. Goodhart
Does the Secretary of State appreciate that Paris, with a smaller population than London, has more than twice as many policemen as has London? Does he also appreciate that the successful tactics, to which he has just paid tribute, in dealing with demonstrations and sieges absorb a very great deal of police manpower? Will he at least ensure that the police are allowed to recruit and to replace the civilian staff that they need in large quantities to complement their own strength?

§ Mr. Jenkins
Yes. In dealing with comparative figures of this kind one has to be a little careful, because the exact organisation of the police in other countries, with certain para-military units involved in some instances, is not strictly comparable. However, I am bound to say that, as compared with most major capital cities, London has to manage with a fairly small number of police, though I am also bound to say that I am not aware—thanks to the efforts of the police—that as a result we manage to deal less successfully with public disorder or terrorist threats or other matters of that sort. That is a great tribute to the police.
As regards civilian manpower, as the hon. Gentleman knows, we have placed no limit on police manpower itself. Certainly the Metropolitan Police Force is free to recruit as fast as it can, as are other police forces, up to establishment, and we are willing to look at establishments in certain cases. There is a ceiling for civilian manpower. It is 1 per cent. above that of the autumn of 1974.
I do not think that it would be reasonable to say that while we must have the greatest stringency in all other aspects of public service manpower and while, as we do, we exempt the uniformed police, the sworn policemen, we can also exempt everyone associated with the working of the police. There is, therefore, a ceiling.

§ Mr. Molloy
Will my right hon. Friend consider approaching the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to see whether it would be possible to reintroduce the scheme whereby young police officers visited schools in the Metropolitan Police area to talk to school leavers and to discuss some of the aspects that my right hon. Friend has been discussing and the dangers when they leave school? This scheme had the very useful by-product of encouraging some young people to consider joining the police force.

§ Mr. Jenkins
The Commissioner and those working closely with him attach the greatest importance to stepping up recruitment and to following up schemes which are valuable, whether of the sort mentioned by my hon. Friend or other schemes. I shall certainly ask the Commissioner for his view of the present scheme.

§ Mr. Alison
The net increase in the Metropolitan Police is 250. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that a surprisingly large proportion of this increase is likely to have to be set aside for the increase in the number of police dealing with complaints, particularly in the A10 Division? Is not this the wrong moment for setting up a complaints structure—just when the police are under great pressure in dealing with crime—with a greater proportion of policemen having to be set aside to deal with it?

§ Mr. Jenkins
The hon. Gentleman's figure is wrong: it is 350 and not 250—the mistake is understandable. I do not accept the hon. Gentleman's contention. I think that the A10 Division has done a substantial job in this respect. If anything, the new procedure will pose fewer and not additional burdens on the A10 Division.