§ Sir J. Langford-Holtasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many high-risk persons per square mile live in the area for which Gerald Road Police Station is responsible; and how this compares with the rest of the Metropolitan Police area.
(2) what are the north, south, east and west points of the area covered by the Gerald Road Police Station;
(3) what effect closure of Gerald Road Police Station would have on the response time in answer to calls in the area at present covered by Gerald Road Police Station;
(4) how is is proposed to provide police protection for the North Exhibition Road and Albert Hall area if Gerald Road Police Station is closed;
(5) what is the wastage rate of personnel in larger police stations compared with smaller police stations;
(6) what is the wastage rate of personnel in Gerald Road Police Station compared with the average of other police stations in the Metropolitan area;
(7) what factors will be taken into consideration if he proposes to consider the closure of Gerald Road Police Station;
(8) what improvement in efficiency would be achieved if he were to move the police operations from Gerald Road to Rochester Row:
137W(9) what savings in costs would be achieved if he were to move the police operations from Gerald Road to Rochester Row;
(10) whether he will take into full consideration the views of officers and men at present stationed at Gerald Road Police Station before any decision is taken to transfer all or part of that station's duties to another station;
(11) how the resignations from officers of each rank serving at Gerald Road Police Station as a proportion of those serving there compare with the proportion in the rest of the Metropolitan area;
(12) whether his attention has been drawn to the fall in morale in officers of all ranks at Gerald Road Police Station as a result of his intention to close this station; and what action he proposes to reverse this;
(13) which foreign embassies, consulates, delegations and representatives are sited within the area for which Gerald Road Police Station is responsible; and how many of these would be more remote from a police station in the event of the closure of Gerald Road Police Station.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesGerald Road Police Station covers an area bounded by Exhibition Road, Hyde Park Corner, Victoria Station and Chelsea Bridge. Within this area there are 77 diplomatic premises representing 49 different countries or international organisations.
The future of Gerald Road Police Station is being considered by the Metropolitan Police in the context of a review of the command structure of the force. The primary object of the review is to enable the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to determine the most effective way of carrying out his policing responsibilities, with the particular aim of releasing officers from administrative tasks for operational duties.
When the review is completed, it will be for the Commissioner to reach a decision on the station's future. He has said that he will take into account the views of interested parties before any action is taken: this includes the views of the police representative organisations and of the officers serving at the Gerald Road station. The Commissioner is 138W aware of the natural concern felt by some officers at the station because of the current review. However, he tells me that the proportion of officers serving at the station who resign without pension is similar to the proportion in other stations in A Division of the force.
The closure of the station would not affect the time taken to respond to requests for police assistance as all such requests are passed by radio to mobile and foot patrols. Nor would it affect the methods used to police the area or the number of police patrols.
The remaining information is either not available or could only be obtained with disproportionate effort and cost.
§ Sir J. Langford-Holtasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many houses have been broken into in the area at present covered by Gerald Road Police Station where personal assault has been involved in each of the last five years;
(2) how many cases of burglary have taken place in the area covered by Gerald Road Police Station in each of the last five years;
(3) what has been the value of goods stolen from private houses in the area covered by Gerald Road Police Station each of the last five years;
(4) what is the value of property per square mile which has been stolen from private houses in the area covered by Gerald Road Police Station; and how this compares with the average for other areas in the Metropolitan Police area.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesThe number of burglaries in the Gerald Road Station area of the Metropolitan Police District in each of the last five years was as follows:
Burglaries into Residential premises Burglaries into Non-Residential premises Total 1973 245 189 434 1974 301 267 568 1975 363 227 590 1976 415 235 650 1977 407 176 583 The remaining information could not be obtained without disproportionate effort and cost.