§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of West Yorkshire as to how many young people from the ethnic minorities he was proposing to recruit as cadets in the current year; why he did not support the proposal for a cadet force; and if he is satisfied with the proportion of officers from the ethnic minorities in the West Yorkshire metropolitan police;
(2) if he will reconsider his decision to set the cadet establishment of the West Yorkshire metropolitan police at nil; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Giles ShawI understand that the West Yorkshire police authority is maintaining a police cadet corps of 33 and proposes to appoint a further 54 cadets in the current financial year. Two of the present number are from ethnic minorities, and the police authority has been encouraging further applications from ethnic minorities.
My right hon. Friend has received a request recently from the police authority for him to make a variation in the establishment scheme for that authority for 1986–87 by including 87 cadet posts. He is giving this careful consideration, in the light of further advice from Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary. In reaching his earlier decision to omit cadets from the establishment scheme, he took into account the force's ability to obtain well-qualified candidates by direct recruitment and the relatively high cost of maintaining a cadet corps.