§ Dr. StoateTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the 5,000 additional police officers which funding from the Crime Fighting Fund will create will be allocated to the Dartford area. [118825]
§ Mr. StrawI refer my hon. Friend to the statement I made on 9 February 2000,Official Report, columns 172-74W, which set out details of the share of the 5,000 recruits under the Crime Fighting Fund for all forces in England and Wales. My reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South (Mr. Cunningham) on 27 March 2000, Official Report, columns 1-3W gave details of additional money for fighting crime and that the three year Crime Fighting Fund would be brought forward with the aim of delivering the recruitment scheme over two years.
It is for the Chief Constable of Kent to decide how to deploy the additional officers he has been allocated under the Crime Fighting Fund. Power to set establishment levels for each force was removed by the previous Government in 1994, under the Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994. It is for chief officers to determine staffing requirements within the overall resources available.