§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many additional police officers in the United Kingdom are now on beat duty compared with the number so engaged in May 1979.
§ Mr. MayhewI can answer only for England and Wales. We know that chief officers of police share our view on the importance of deploying officers on foot patrol. They have been able to increase them because of the improvement in the strength of the service, by releasing police officers from administrative posts wherever possible, and as part of the process of reviewing the deployment of officers to meet current objectives and priorities. Exact figures for all forces could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, but the Metropolitan Police have returned over 1,000 officers to beat duty and the Commissioner proposes to deploy at least 650 more.