§ Sir E. Graham-Littleasked the Home Secretary what has been the cost of the experimental motor-patrol scheme in the county of Lancaster during the first six months of its operation; and whether he could give an estimate of the approximate annual cost of such a scheme if carried out for the whole of Great Britain?
§ Sir S. HoareThe cost of the experimental motor police scheme in the Lancashire police district, excluding the cost of providing and running the motor patrol vehicles, for the period 1st April, 1938, to 3oth September, 1938, was £63,034. The cost of vehicles is met by the payment from the Road Fund of an annual grant based on mileage run: final figures are not yet available for this period, but the amount payable is estimated at about £9,300. The cost of applying the scheme over the whole of England and Wales cannot, on the information at present available, be estimated with any precision, but it might be expected to be of the order of £2,500,000 a year.