HC Deb 25 November 1993 vol 233 cc565-7
4. Mr. Ainger

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the six most successful police forces in England and Wales in terms of clear-up rate in 1992; and what is the establishment of each of those forces.

Mr. Charles Wardle

The highest clear-up rate in 1992 was in Dyfed-Powys with an authorised establishment of 969, followed by Gwent with 1,010, Merseyside with 4,706, Lincolnshire with 1,206, Suffolk with 1,233 and equal sixth Cumbria with 1,187, Lancashire with 3,229 and Wiltshire with 1,181.

Mr. Ainger

Is the Minister aware that the figures prove that small is beautiful in relation to police forces—not only beautiful, but efficient and effective? Will he now announce that Dyfed-Powys police force and Gwent police force in particular will not be subject to any amalgamation, because they are the two most efficient forces in the country?

Mr. Wardle

The hon. Gentleman is right to draw attention to the good performance by Dyfed-Powys police, who are to be congratulated on achieving the highest clear-up rate. The chief constable attributes his success to a combination of traditional community policing in partnership with the public, and the use of the latest police technology. Those are precisely the features of policing that are enhanced by my right hon. and learned Friend's reform proposals. More police officers will be released for front-line duties, and chief police officers will have the freedom to spend their money where they judge best, whether on computers, on new technology and equipment or on anything else.

Sir Anthony Grant

Does my hon. Friend agree that the figures are largely meaningless unless one has regard to the number of police per head of the population in a county force? With that in mind, will he take note of the fact that Cambridgeshire, for example, has fewer police per head of the population than is the case for any other county?

Mr. Wardle

I hear my hon. Friend's eloquent bid on behalf of Cambridgeshire. It is true that the correlation between clear-up rates and establishment or strength figures depends, at least to some extent, on the type of area policed and on the type of crime that is prevalent. Some categories of crime have a far higher clear-up rate than others.

Mr. Michael

Will not the Minister acknowledge that six of the eight highest performers among police forces are among the 11 smallest, and that all are threatened by his amalgamation plans? Will the Home Secretary now abandon his bid to take powers in the forthcoming police Bill to dictate police force mergers?

As the Home Secretary has today claimed to support the police, will he also acknowledge that the latest figures for the police establishment, given in a parliamentary answer to me last night, show a drop of 224 police officers since the general election? Does not that make a mockery of the Conservative election promise to provide an extra 1,000 police officers this year?

Mr. Wardle

The hon. Gentleman knows that this Government have increased the number of uniformed officers by almost 17,000 and, by the process of civilianisation, by another 6,600. My right hon. and learned Friend's proposals will allow an increase of a further 5,300. The hon. Gentleman talks about the reform proposals. The White Paper set out the conditions under which the ground could be cleared for amalgamations; no such amalgamations were suggested.

Mrs. Angela Knight

My hon. Friend will be aware that the Derbyshire police force has again been refused a certificate of efficiency, and that it is still under establishment. Will he confirm that the principal reason is the repeated lack of funds granted to the police force by the county council, including reducing the chief constable's budget proposals by £6 million this year?

Will my hon. Friend further join me in congratulating the policemen and women in Derbyshire on the excellent job they do in difficult circumstances? Will he assure me that our right hon. and learned Friend's proposals to separate the police authority from the county council will result in the force being able to recruit more policemen and women, which my constituents in Erewash and the rest of us in Derbyshire want?

Mr. Wardle

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. She will be aware that the White Paper proposals will allow chief officers the leeway and freedom of judgment that she describes. I am sure that she agrees that for Derbyshire, or for any other police force, ultimately improvements in police performance and clear-up rates will depend crucially on locally focused policing and on working in partnership with the public to help to prevent and to detect crime, with more officers being away from desks and on the beat, and with modernised police management bringing offenders to the courts to be dealt with fairly, swiftly and decisively. All those circumstances are provided for in my right hon. and learned Friend's proposals.