§ Lord Kilmanyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether police forces in Scotland are fully up to strength, and, if not, whether they will give recent figures.
§ The Minister of State, Scottish Office (Lord Gray of Contin)All Scottish forces are operating at or near their authorised police establishments, with the exception of Strathclyde Police. The position as at 31st December 1984 is set out in the following table:
Force Authorised Police Establishment Actual Strength Central Scotland Police 546 542 Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary 308 310 Fife Constabulary 653 654 Grampian Police 954 962 Lothian and Borders Police 2,386 2,387 Northern Constabulary 608 611 Strathclyde Police 6,954 6,792 Tayside Police 962 967 Total 13,371 13,225 The figures include officers who are employed at port, airports and oil-related industrial sites and whose costs are not borne entirely by police authorities Those for actual strength include officers on national training courses and on central service who do not count against authorised establishment.