§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis as to how much money it has provided, in each year since 1980, to facilitate the payment of rewards offered by private institutions such as insurance companies, banks, and so on; how many individual cases were concerned; whether, in any individual cases, more than £5,000 from public funds was offered or provided; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. Giles ShawThe Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that the number of rewards from private sources which were facilitated by the metropolitan police in each year from 1981 to 1985 was as follows:
1981, 46; 1982, 48; 1983, 71; 1984, 61; and 1985, 75.
These did not involve the payment of any money from police funds. Comparable information for 1980 is not readily available. There has been no case since 1980 in which the Metropolitan police have offered or provided a reward from public funds of over £5,000.