Retained Police Officers

HC Deb 12 March 2001 vol 364 cc623-5

10. Mr. David Heath (Somerton and Frome)

If he will introduce a category of retained police officers. [151708]

The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Charles Clarke)

The idea of retained police officers is one of those that is being considered to increase visibility and reassurance in the current police reform discussions. Constables who serve probationary periods and sergeants may already work part-time, and the Police Negotiating Board is currently considering proposals and draft regulations that would extend that right to probationers and to the inspecting ranks. I agree with the hon. Gentleman that a range of creative approaches to the question of increasing the police presence is important and that is what we are actively discussing with the police at the moment.

Mr. Heath

I am grateful to the Minister for his response. Is it not the case that people in villages and small towns in rural areas across the country want sufficient police numbers so that there is a greater visible police presence? They want those police officers to be fully trained, fully equipped, in proper uniform and acting in the office of constable. Retained officers play a large part in providing rural firefighting services, and I am glad that the Minister is considering further the possibility of having retained police officers. Will he consider the matter with a degree of urgency to see what can be done for rural areas?

Mr. Clarke

We are considering the issue with a degree of urgency. As the hon. Gentleman knows, crime in Avon and Somerset has gone down by about 15 per cent. since 1997, but there is a great deal further to go. The types of measures that he has described that would develop an increased uniformed police presence—through specials, retained officers, targeted policing, patrols, different types of police station and so on—in every community are all part of the range of issues that we are actively discussing. We are already taking a number of different measures to encourage that approach.

Mr. Gordon Prentice (Pendle)

I may have to confess my ignorance. but are not retained officers really the same as special constables? [HON. MEMBERS: "No."] Well, let me make my point then.

There has been a significant increase in the number of police officers in Lancashire, and that is good. However, there has been a reduction in the number of special officers, and that is bad. About a fifth of special officers go on to become full-time police officers but, in recent years, the number of specials in Lancashire has fallen by about 150. What do we need to do to get good, public-spirited people—who do not want to be full-time police officers but who would like to do the job part-time—to join the specials? The specials have a role in bolstering police numbers when the police are overstretched, and we must do everything that we can to increase their numbers.

Mr. Clarke

My hon. Friend is right about specials, and he gave the answer to the problem in his question. His figures reflect the fact that many people who have joined that force see it as a route to recruitment as a full-time police officer. The harmonisation of health and safety regulations several years ago encouraged that process and we are considering whether it is the right way to proceed. Parish specials, who are located in their local parishes or wards, do not have the same obstructions or responsibilities as the police and we are actively considering whether that might be a better approach.

For my hon. Friend's information, special constables are different from retained constables because they get no basic pay for performing that role. Retained specials would get paid, although at a different rate to the regular police force. That is what distinguishes their pay from the part-time rate. We are considering the retained option but, frankly, developing our approach to the specials, whose numbers have declined over recent years, is a higher priority because there are many obvious positive aspects to that force.

Mr. Douglas Hogg (Sleaford and North Hykeham)

The Minister has emphasised the importance that he attaches to increasing the number a special constables, and I agree with him. However, as I have told his right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on previous occasions, I believe that it is proper to pay them, and that would be a useful way of increasing the numbers. There is a parallel with the retained fire service in rural areas, which is paid. There is no reason of principle why special constables should not be paid an allowance.

Mr. Clarke

First, the right hon. and learned Gentleman will be glad to note that crime has decreased by 20 per cent. in Lincolnshire since the election. I know that he will celebrate that fact with the Government. Secondly, he is right to say that there are issues relating to how we could pay retained officers in the way that he describes and that there might be parallels with the retained firefighters.

Mr. Hogg

I said specials.

Mr. Clarke

I know that, but the fight hon. and learned Gentleman also referred to retained officers. Whether we are considering volunteers, specials, part-time or full-time police officers or retained officers, we need to develop a new approach to maximise police presence in every community in Britain. That is precisely what we are discussing in the police reform process.

Mr. Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock)

As part of the reform, will my hon. Friend reflect on the experience of the Wandsworth and Greenwich packs police, which was established under a Greater London council provision to allow every London borough to have such a force for their open spaces and parks? Will he consider extending that power to all local authorities in England and Wales? In addition, will he consider extending the scope of the force so that it is not confined to municipally owned and controlled parks, but relates to other open spaces where the force could complement and supplement the work of a Home Office force?

Mr. Clarke

There is a range of different approaches, including park wardens. Local authorities can pay for police officers, which they do in some circumstances to help to encourage the policing of their parks. We encourage that in certain regards. However, I am slightly wary of encouraging the growth of a parks police force that is separate from the official office of constable. I was in Merseyside the other day and people asked me why they had a ports police and a Mersey tunnel police.

My hon. Friend's proposal raises some issues. It is important that there is co-ordination and organisation. Our crime and disorder partnership, which is a departure from the Opposition's approach when they were in government, attempts to establish the relationships that will encourage such a development.