§ Mr. Vernon Bartlettasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is with his approval that police are employed to park private vehicles on private grounds at race meetings and other such functions; and whether he is satisfied that such employment is not detrimental to their work of controlling road traffic, protecting the citizen and carrying out the other duties for which funds are provided by the taxpayer and ratepayer.
§ Mr. EdeNo police are employed in this way in the Metropolitan Police District. Any arrangements by other police forces would not require my approval, but I understand that there have been occasions 2079W on which the police have helped with the parking of cars, where no other arrangements could be made and the volume of traffic was such that efficient parking was essential to the proper control of traffic on the roads. I have no evidence that this has prejudiced the other duties of the police, and the cost is normally recovered from the organisers of the function at which the police are employed.