§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the percentage increase in the budget of each police force in England and Wales in each year since 1974 in(a) money and (b) real terms; and if he will make a statement on efforts being made by his Department to improve value for money in the police service.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe information relating to police force budgets is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The Home Office is strongly committed to encouraging better value for money in the police service, in partnership with chief officers and police authorities. The main elements in Home Office activity are:
- (1) inspection of forces by HM inspectorate of constabulary: developments include further extension of the matrix of indicators used by the inspectorate to assist the inspection process, the publication of inspection reports and the appointment of a business consultant:
- (2) encouragement of a programme of efficiency scrutinies in forces, with 19 scrutinies completed or under way;
- (3) through controls on police establishment, encouragement of civilianisation, which has released 4,700 officers for operational duties over the last 7 years, with a further 800 posts due to be civilianised this year;
- (4) following a Home Office/Treasury study on police manpower, a programme of work is under way to improve and standardise measures of police workloads, activity and effectiveness;
- (5) follow-up action on papers produced by the Audit Commission as part of their current programme of work in the police service, include monitoring by HM inspectorate of action taken by forces.