§ Mr. Gareth Wardellasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for reports from chief constables as to the guidelines they operate regarding flying pickets who walk to collieries.
§ Mr. HurdNo. My right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General made a statement on the law in reply to a question by my hon. Friend the Member for South Hams (Mr. Steen) on 16 March at columns 279–80. It is for the chief officer of police concerned to decide, having regard to local circumstances, how the law is to be enforced in his police area.
§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for reports from each chief constable concerned to provide details for each police force area of the number of pickets arrested from 17 May to date.
§ Mr. HurdThe following numbers of arrests have been reported, in the period from 17 May to 4 June inclusive, in connection with events arising from the miners' dispute:
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Police force area Number of arrests Cleveland 5 Derbyshire 48 Durham 55 Essex 50 Greater Manchester 13 Hampshire 7 Humberside 8 Kent 3 Lancashire 23 Leicestershire 14 Merseyside 20 Metropolitan 3 Northumbria 7 North Wales 7 Nottinghamshire 196 South Wales 2 South Yorkshire 172 Staffordshire 28 Warwickshire 5
Police force area Number of arrests West Yorkshire 3 Total 669
§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for reports from each chief constable concerned to provide details of the number of police injured since 17 May dealing with the the current miners' dispute.
§ Mr. HurdThe following numbers of police officers have been injured, in the period between 17 May and 4 June inclusive, in dealing with events arising from the miners' dispute.
Police force area Number of officers injured Derbyshire 1 Durham 2 Essex 4 Nottinghamshire 5 South Yorkshire 71 Warwickshire 1 Total 84
§ Mr. Fatchettasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for reports from chief constables as to how many pickets arrested in the Nottinghamshire police area during the period 14 March to 31 May were arrested by (a) members of the Nottinghamshire police force, (b) members of the West Yorkshire police force and (c) other police forces.
§ Mr. HurdThe chief constable of Nottinghamshire tells me that of 1,258 arrests involving actions related to the miners' dispute made within his force area between 14 March and 31 May inclusive, 643 were made by officers of his force, 17 by officers of the West Yorkshire police, and 598 by officers of other police forces.
§ Mr. Lawlerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of West Yorkshire police as to how many police man hours have been devoted by West Yorkshire police to help with operations connected with the mining dispute.
§ Mr. HurdThe chief constable tells me that the particular information requested has yet to be collated. At 6 June, the maximum number of officers which his force had provided on any one day to assist elsewhere in the policing of events related to the dispute was 275.
§ Mr. Lawlerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the cost to date of the assistance given by West Yorkshire police with policing operations connected with the mining dispute.
§ Mr. HurdThe West Yorkshire police estimate the additional costs of mutual aid provided to other forces up to 11 May as £282,000.