§ Mr. Welshasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will give figures showing the numbers of police officers leaving the service prematurely in each year over the past 10 years; and what evidence he has of the extent to which such figures are due to dissatisfaction with police salary scale rates;
(2) how many police force vacancies there were in each year over the past 10 years; and whether there is any evidence of a connection between these figures and police salary scale rates;
(3) what steps are being taken to investigate and reverse the present trend whereby police officers are prematurely leaving the service.
§ Mr. William RossThe number of voluntary resignations from the police service in Scotland in each of the years 1965 to 1974 is shown in the table below.
Year Voluntary Resignations 1965 … … … … 313 1966 … … … … 546 1967 … … … … 445 1968 … … … … 475 1969 … … … … 461 1970 … … … … 421 1971 … … … … 269 1972 … … … … 292 1973 … … … … 393 1974 … … … … 450 The authorised establishment, actual strength and number of vacancies in Scottish police forces at 31st December in each of the years 1965 to 1974 are shown in the table below.
year is primarily related to the level of police pay. The figures in the first table are clearly influenced by many factors, 141W and the figures for 1972–74 in the second table are very much affected by the significant increases in establishments which were approved in these years, particularly in 1974.
Police pay is subject to regular review and many improvements in allowances and other conditions of service have been made in recent years.
§ Mr. Donald Stewartasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish figures showing the authorised establishment and actual strength of each police force in Scotland at the latest available date.
§ Mr. William RossThe police establishments formally submitted by police authorities and approved since reorganisation on 16th May are:
Central … 494 Dumfries & Galloway … 283 Fife … 653 Grampian … 864 Tayside … 923 For the other three forces no formal proposal has been submitted for my approval, but I expect the figures to be of the order of 2,300 for Lothian and Borders, 550 for Northern and 7,000 for Strathclyde. The first returns of actual police strength since reorganisation are due to be submitted as at 30th June and I expect to have the figures shortly.