HC Deb 04 July 1991 vol 194 cc432-3
12. Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last met the chief constable of Essex to discuss police resources in Basildon.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

My right hon. Friend has not met the chief constable of Essex for that purpose. My right hon. and noble Friend the Minister of State intends to visit the Essex police on 27 November.

Mr. Amess

Is my hon. Friend aware that a new police station in Laindon in Basildon will be opened next week? That means that we now have three police stations, instead of the one that we had in 1983. Will my hon. Friend accept the gratitude of my constituency for making money available for the three police stations? Does he also agree with the chief constable that it is not simply a matter of numbers of police men employed, but rather a matter of how scarce resources are deployed?

Mr. Lloyd

It is always essential that resources are used sensibly. I am glad that the Essex police authority has used the resources with which it has been provided to such good, practical effect. It is to be congratulated.

Mr. Haynes

Is the Minister aware that his right hon. Friend, in the knock-about on police resources, should be ashamed of himself? When he meets the chief constable of Essex, if the chief constable asks for additional resources for police officers in Basildon and in Essex as a whole, he will, I hope, not turn him down on funding, like he did in Nottinghamshire.

Mr. Lloyd

My right hon. Friend always listens carefully to all representations made from whichever police force, but he takes the advice of Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary to give the ranking order to the bids that are put in.