§ Mr. Hickmetasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what restrictions have been imposed upon working overtime of Metropolitan police officers in each year since 1979, what effect such restrictions have had upon the amount of crime being investigated or not investigated, categorised in the most convenient form; and what effect such restrictions have upon individual police officer's enquiries and upon policing as a whole.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 19 February 1986, c. 178]: It has been the policy of successive Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis that overtime should be authorised only when it is operationally necessary. In May 1985, as part of a package of planned expenditure reductions, the force's overtime budget for 1985–86 was reduced from £58 million to £49 million. It is not possible to quantify the effect which this measure has had on the investigation of crime or on policing as a whole in London. The strength of the Metropolitan police increased between 31 May and 31 January by 171 officers.