§ 11. Mr. Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale, West)If he will list those police forces which do not have a full establishment of officers. [147097]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Charles Clarke)Under legislation passed by the previous Government, chief officers of police were given the power to determine within available resources the number of officers that there should be in their force. There is therefore no centrally determined establishment.
§ Mr. BradyI am grateful to the Minister for that response, although it could only be categorised as less than full and frank. Will he now give the rather shorter list of those police forces that do have a full establishment of officers?
§ Mr. ClarkeI am terribly sorry, but the hon. Gentleman is simply not grasping the point. As a result 660 of legislation passed by the previous Government, there is no longer a centrally determined establishment for each force in Britain, so his question is essentially meaningless. That was what I was trying, as courteously as possible, to point out.