§ 10. Mr. ButlerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress Thames Valley police 1130 has made with civilianisation since 1979; and how many police officers have become available for operational duties as a result. [13859]
§ Mr. MacleanInformation from 1979 is not available. Since 1985, civilianisation of posts has released 152 police officers for operational duties, to add to the 1,100 extra police officers recruited by Thames Valley police since 1979.
§ Mr. ButlerDoes my right hon. Friend accept that that success in putting policemen back on the streets to fight crime is greatly welcomed by my constituents and others? On top of that, there is the welcome news that 30 additional police officers will be recruited to the Milton Keynes force this year. [HON. MEMBERS: "Reading".] I am not ashamed of being able to read: I recommend it to Labour Members below the Gangway. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the 17,000 additional civilians recruited since 1979—not just to replace policemen, but to improve efficiency in the Thames Valley—is a record of which we can be truly and rightly proud?
§ Mr. MacleanMy hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the fact that since 1979 not only have we recruited an extra 17,000 civilians to relieve the load on police officers, but we have recruited 15,300 extra police officers. We had to recruit 7,500 of those officers in the first few years of Government because the Labour Government ran down the police force. Under the last Labour Government, the police force was 8,500 officers under strength: that is the record of the Labour party's care for the police force.
§ Mr. StrawWe have just heard another example of the Conservative lie machine. Will the Minister confirm that, under the last Labour Government, there was an average increase in police strength of 500 officers per year? That compares with an increase of just 300 per year since 1979.
As to the Thames Valley, does the Minister understand that no one in that area—least of all the police—will accept the complacent nonsense that we have heard from him and from his hon. Friend this afternoon? Does he not understand that in the Thames Valley area villainy has flourished in the past 15 years? Crime has increased by 150 per cent. and convictions have decreased by 33 per cent. Is it not true that, under the Conservatives, there is much more crime in the Thames valley and elsewhere and many more people who are getting away with it?
§ Mr. MacleanI am delighted that, after half an hour of questions, we have finally managed to provoke the hon. Gentleman to get to his feet. If he is concerned about too many people getting away with it, why did he vote against all the measures that the Conservative party introduced in the 1980s to prevent people getting away with it? Why did he vote against giving the Attorney-General the power to review lenient sentences, and why did he try to pull the teeth out of the policy on secure training centres?
The hon. Gentleman is worried about people getting away with it in the past. How many will get away with it in the future because the Leader of the Opposition does not believe in prosecuting criminals who steal from shops? Rather, he regards it as perfectly okay, because they are just putting a treat in their pockets.