§ 13. Mr. Leighasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Nottinghamshire about recent policing in connection with the coal miners' strike.
§ Mr. BrittanI receive daily reports from the chief constable.
§ 25. Dr. Mawhinneyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) Metropolitan and (b) Cambridgeshire police man-hours have so far been devoted to policing connected with the miners' industrial action.
§ Mr. HurdThe Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and the chief constable of Cambridgeshire tell me that the information has yet to be collated.
§ 26. Mr. Strangasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is now able to estimate the cost of the police operations in the miners' strike.
§ 27. Mr. Hirstasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is now able to estimate the cost to date of additional policing required to maintain public order during the recent miners' industrial action; and if he will make a statement.
§ 29. Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to obtain, and place in the Library, a transcript of his broadcast on the British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4 "Today" programme on 28 March about the police and picketing.
§ Mr. HurdA copy of a transcript prepared by the Home Office public relations branch has been placed in the Library.
§ 45. Mr. Barronasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the police involvement in the coal mining dispute; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HurdI refer the hon. Member to the replies I have given to questions from a number of hon. Members today.
§ 47. Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports he has received from chief constables in Lancashire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire on the picketing by the National Union of Mineworkers.
§ Mr. HurdWe have received daily reports, through the national reporting centre, from the chief constables of the police forces concerned.
§ 51. Mr. Peter Hardyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will arrange for a public inquiry or an independent investigation into the various complaints and allegations which he has received concerning the involvement of the police in the miners' dispute.
§ Mr. HurdMy right hon. and learned Friend does not propose to establish a public inquiry. The statutory310W procedure for dealing with complaints against the police in England and Wales, under the police Acts 1964 and 1976, already provides an independent element.
§ 52. Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the chief constable of Nottinghamshire regarding picketing.
§ Mr. HurdThe chief constable was present when my right hon. and learned Friend discussed the cost of policing operations related to the miners' dispute with representatives of the Nottinghamshire police authority on 29 March.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for reports from the respective chief constables as to the total number of police officers from outside the police forces of Dyfed-Powys, north Wales, south Wales and Gwent which has been involved in policing activities in Wales related to the mining industry; if he will indicate the number of people and the forces from which they originated; by whose authority they were invited; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HurdIt would involve disproportionate cost to collate information about the deployment of officers from outside Wales to duties in relation to the miners' dispute there: not all the officers sent to help have necessarily been deployed immediately they arrived, and officers from English forces have been accommodated in Wales to be on hand to perform duties elsewhere. Up to 11 April, the chief constables of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Hampshire, Merseyside, Northamptonshire and Surrey had provided officers to help their colleagues in the four Welsh forces referred to. The highest total number of officers they provided was 400. This help was requested by the chief constables of the receiving forces.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for reports from the respective chief constables as to the total number of police officers from within the following police force areas which have been involved in policing activities related to the mining industry: Dyfed-Powys, north Wales, south Wales and Gwent.
§ Mr. HurdIt would involve disproportionate cost to identify and collate information about a total number of officers involved, given the range of relevant operational and administrative duties. Each of the four chief constables tells me that officers from his force have been deployed to provide help to other forces having to police events associated with the miners' dispute. The numbers involved have varied from day to day. The maxima up to 11 April have been: south Wales, 100; north Wales, 75; Dyfed-Powys, 50; Gwent, 50. Officers from each of the four forces have also been deployed locally in connection with the dispute.
§ Mr. Marlowasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a further statement on the policing of the dispute within the National Union of Mineworkers.
§ Mr. HurdI refer my hon. Friend to my right hon. and learned Friend's speech during the debate in the House on 10 April and to his answers to questions today.
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§ Mr. Terlezkiasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to be able to estimate the cost of policing picket lines throughout the coal workers dispute; and if he will make a statement.