§ Mr. G. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why the practice of allowing payment in lieu of leave for overtime duties by the Metropolitan Police Force was stopped; and whether the custom followed during the previous administration can now be restored.
§ Sir D. Maxwell FyfeThe Police Regulations provide that compensation for overtime is to take the form of time off, but that overtime payments may be made if time off cannot be granted within three months or such shorter period as the chief officer of police may fix. As a special measure, the practice of making immediate payments was introduced in the Metropolitan Police Force in 1946, but the Commissioner of Police decided last year to revert to the general practice and to make it the normal rule to give time off rather than to make a monetary payment. He sees no reason for modifying this decision.