§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the average amount of time spent by a police officer on the beat was between(a) May 1997 and May 1998, (b) May 1998 and May 1999 and (c) May 1999 and May 2000. [130983]
§ Mr. Paul MurphyThe deployment of police officers is a matter for individual Chief Constables.
Information about the percentage of officer time spent in public has been published by the Audit Commission in the 1997–98 and 1998–99 editions of "Local Authority Performance Indicators—Police and Fire Services".