HC Deb 15 February 1999 vol 325 cc589-90
5. Mr. Norman Baker (Lewes)

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of police numbers in Sussex. [69108]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Paul Boateng)

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made no assessment of police numbers in Sussex. Under legislation passed by the previous Government in 1994, it is for the chief constable to determine the number of police officers in the force, within the resources available to him or her.

Mr. Baker

I hear what the Minister says, but I hope that he shares my concern that a recent survey demonstrated that only 15 per cent. of people felt that there were enough police on the beat. I hope that he feels that he ought to do something about that. Before the general election, the Labour party was very keen to criticise the previous Government on police numbers. Is it the case that the previous Government were responsible for police numbers then and that the police authorities are responsible for them now?

Mr. Boateng

The Lib Dems are trying to have it both ways, as usual. As the hon. Gentleman well knows, the reality is that the number of police on the ground is an operational matter for the chief constable. The new Labour Government have provided an additional £1.24 billion for policing. We are also enabling the constabulary in Sussex to reinvest its 2 per cent. efficiency savings in front-line policing. That is warmly welcomed in Sussex. Is it too much to ask the Liberal Democrat party to recognise the good that is being done on the ground, rather than carping on and on about the number of police, which it knows is not the best criterion for reducing and preventing crime?

Mr. Nicholas Soames (Mid-Sussex)

I thank the Minister for that thoroughly condign answer. Will he acknowledge that what he says is simply not true and that the news on numbers is not welcomed in Sussex? The hon. Member for Lewes (Mr. Baker) is right to say that it is generally acknowledged in Sussex that there are not enough policemen on the beat, as the Minister himself would have said at the general election.

Will the Minister see to it that the rather exotic number of police required, rightly, to police Gatwick airport in north-west Sussex in no way impinges on the rightful need for more police in the ordinary Sussex police establishment?

Mr. Boateng

I have never associated the hon. Gentleman with exoticism, but, as he raises the issue, I will of course take it up with the chief constable, who will be the first to recognise that it is an operational matter and not one on which it would be proper for me to comment.