Mr. MACLEANasked the Home Secretary the number of civilian employés or Civil Service officials and the number of police officers, respectively, 840W who were employed in the Commissioner's office of the Metropolitan police at New Scotland Yard at the end of the financial years 1914, 1918 and 1922 in the following departments: executive branch, clerical staff; messengers; criminal investigation department, correspondence registry; habitual criminal records office; and candidates department: the number of male and female employés classed as civilian or Civil Service; and the number of each rank of superintendent, inspector, sergeant, and constable in each of the periods?
§ Mr. SHORTTThe numbers of the staff in the Commissioner's office are shown each year in the Accounts of the Metropolitan Police and Police Pension Funds, which are presented to Parliament and to which I would refer the hon. Member. To prepare detailed returns in the form asked for in the question would involve considerable expenditure of time and labour, which I am reluctant to impose on the clerical staff at New Scotland Yard without some further indication of the purpose which would be served thereby.
Mr. MACLEANasked the Home Secretary the authorised strength of the mounted branch of the Metropolitan Police at the end of the financial years 1914, 1918, and 1922, and the annual cost in each of these years: what rank is held by the officer in charge, and does he perform other duties; when was he appointed, and what is his salary; who was his predecessor in charge of the mounted branch and what was his salary; what special qualification or police experience is required in this appointment: and has the present holder of office risen from the rank and file of the Metropolitan Police?
§ Mr. SHORTTThe strength of the mounted branch on the 31st March, 1922, excluding farrier and grooms, was 264. I cannot give corresponding figures for the earlier years, since the mounted police were not then organised as a separate establishment as they are now, and for the same reason I cannot give comparative figures of cost. The nearest figures available are those of the establishment of horses, which was 343 in 1914, 337 in 1918 and 292 at the present time. The officer in charge of the mounted branch as it now exists holds the rank 841W of chief inspector, He is liable to perform other duties if required. The officer responsible to the Commissioner for the administration and efficiency of the branch is the Deputy-Assistant Com-missioner. The Chief Inspector was appointed on the 29th September last at the ordinary salary of an officer of that rank. The rank and pay of the officer previously in charge were that of a sub-divisional inspector, His special qualification is a thorough knowledge of horsemanship and horsemastership, together with tact and ability in dealing with men. This officer has risen from the rank and file of the police.