HC Deb 26 July 1985 vol 83 cc815-6W
Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list details of the cost of dog and horse food provided for the Metropolitan police in each year since 1979.

Mr. Giles Shaw

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that information is not maintained in precisely the form requested. The available information for the financial years 1980–81 to 1984–85 is as follows:

Costs to the Metropolitan police of dog and horse feed etc; 1980–81 to 1984–85 (£000)
Financial year Dog and food and dog training and handling equipment Horse feed and removal of horse manure from police stables
1980–81 75 151
1981–82 84 160
1982–83 91 142
1983–84 108 155
1984–85 104 155
Information in comparable form is not available for 1979–80.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will state, for each year since 1979, the number of tons of oats consumed by Metropolitan police horses and the average annual intake of each horse.

Mr. Giles Shaw

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that Metropolitan police horses are fed on a daily diet consisting of 3 kilogrammes of oats, 1 kg of bran, 5½kg of hay, 6½kg of straw, lkg of chaff, and ½kg of linseed per animal. The estimated total amount of feed consumed by all Metropolitan police horses in each year from 1979 to 1984 is as follows:

Estimated annual intake of feed by Metropolitan Police horses 1979 to 1984 (in metric tonnes)
oats bran hay straw chaff linseed
1979 199 66 365 431 66 33
1980 199 66 365 431 66 33
1981 196 65 359 424 65 32
1982 192 64 353 417 64 32
1983 192 64 353 417 64 32
1984 194 64 357 422 64 32

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of dog biscuits used each year since 1979 by the Metropolitan police dog unit and the average quantity of dog biscuits consumed by each dog in each of those years.

Mr. Giles Shaw

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that information is available only for the financial years 1983–84 and 1984–85, when the amount of dog biscuits bought by the force was 42 tonnes and 48 tonnes respectively. On average an adult dog consumes about 120 kg of dog biscuits in a year.