§ 5. Mr. Gareth R. Thomas (Harrow, West)Which police authority has the (a) highest and (b) lowest rate of early retirement through sickness. [64349]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Kate Hoey)In 1997–98, Derbyshire constabulary had the highest rate of ill-health retirement among police forces in England and Wales, at 65 per cent. of all retirements. Surrey police had the lowest such rate, at 14 per cent. of all retirements.
§ Mr. ThomasI am grateful to my hon. Friend for that reply. May I commend to her the work of the police force in Harrow, and especially of those officers working out of Pinner police station in my constituency, with whom I was able to go out on the beat on Friday?
Does my hon. Friend agree that continued efforts to increase efficiency by police authorities are essential if we are to get the best use out of the police service's resources in the battle against crime? Does she accept that further measures are needed to reduce the number of costly early retirements as a result of sickness?
§ Kate HoeyI am glad that my hon. Friend went out with his local police. It is important for Members of Parliament to do that and thereby learn what is going on in their areas. Clearly, more efficiency is needed, especially with regard to sickness in the police force, although there has been some improvement: for example, the early retirement rate as a result of sickness has fallen on Merseyside from 77 per cent. to 54 per cent, and in Cleveland, from 58 per cent. to 32 per cent. However, police authorities, chief constables and the public know that that is still not good enough. More has to be done to ensure that fewer police officers retire early.
§ Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York)Will the Minister join me in welcoming the attempts by the North Yorkshire police to boost morale in an area where the early retirement rates are unacceptably high? Given that background, will the Minister join me in putting pressure on the Minister for Local Government and Housing to give a more generous standard spending assessment to North Yorkshire police? Under this year's settlement, the force will not be able both to meet last year's pay awards and to install the more expensive radio system that is vital in such a sparsely populated rural area. The North Yorkshire force also intends to raise manning levels to cope with the millennium celebrations: will the Minister come to our aid?
§ Kate HoeyI should have mentioned the North Yorkshire force in my previous answer, as its retirement rate from sickness shows one of the best improvements in the country, having fallen from 76 per cent. to 49 per cent.
555 On the question of the settlement, it is a fair settlement at a time of general constraint on public spending. All police forces will have to consider the efficiency and value for money exercises in which some forces are already doing extremely well. The police have been asked to make efficiency savings of 2 per cent. in the coming year, and the savings can then be invested in front-line policing. If North Yorkshire police get their sickness level down even further, more police will be out there, on the beat, at the front line, dealing with the public.
§ Mr. Martin Salter (Reading, West)How confident is my hon. Friend that early retirement is not used as an excuse by incompetent or corrupt police officers to avoid the proper disciplinary process? What plans has she to address that issue in the wake of the bungled murder inquiry into the Stephen Lawrence case?
§ Kate HoeyMy hon. Friend would not expect me to make any comment on the particular case to which he refers, which involved an ordinary, not a medical, retirement. However, the issue is one that causes great concern both to the public and to the police and we look forward to the report of the Lawrence inquiry, from which might come suggestions that we shall be able to take up. It is clear that the public will not accept police officers who face disciplinary proceedings being able to avoid normal procedures, and we shall ensure that anything that can be done is done. Changes already made to the disciplinary code and police regulations will take effect on 1 April.
§ Mr. Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham)How does the Minister account for the fact that my local police force in Sussex has suffered the second-largest fall in the number of on-duty police officers of any force in the country since May 1997 at a time when police resources are greatly stretched by the legislation emanating from her Department? Will she try to put that down to early retirements, or is it, in fact, another example of the Labour Government's actions in office failing to match up to their pre-election rhetoric about being tough on crime??
§ Kate HoeyI remind the hon. Gentleman that the police settlement for the past two years was made by the previous Government; it has nothing to do with the Labour Government. The settlement is fair and those police forces that are careful about how they spend their money will be able to ensure that the public are policed properly.