HC Deb 08 April 1987 vol 114 cc281-9W
Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the total annual cost of the police service in Scotland, with a breakdown for each police force in (a) 1979 and (b) 1986 or the latest available year; and how much of that cost was met by (i) Her Majesty's Government and (ii) local authorities.

Mr. Lang

The cost of the police service in Scotland in 1979–80 was £153,813,000 and in 1985–86 it was £288,725,000. Central Government's share of the cost in these years comprised 50 per cent. police grant (from 1986–87 51 per cent., and 50 per cent. of the expenditure on common police services. The remainder of the expenditure was met by local authorities from general revenue comprising rate support grant and rates. A breakdown of expenditure for each police force in 1979–80 and 1985–86 is given in the table:

£000
1979–80 1985–86
Force Local Authorities 1 Central Government Total Local Authorities 1 Central Government Total
Central 2,890 2,798 5,688 5,564 5,343 10,907
Dumfries & Galloway 1,708 1,799 3,507 3,397 3,533 6,930
Fife 3,765 3,660 7,425 6,995 6,734 13,729
Grampian 5,497 5,342 10,839 11,197 10,801 21,998
Lothian & Borders 12,878 12,449 25,327 25,916 25,104 51,020
Northern 3,845 3,765 7,610 7,134 6,926 14,060
Strathclyde 40,247 39,091 79,338 72,673 70,147 142,820
Tayside 5,957 5,793 11,750 11,351 10,973 22,324
Central Government's share of Common Police Services 2,329 2,329 4,937 4,937
£76,787 £77,026 £153,813 £144,227 £144,498 £288,725
1 Includes local authorities' share of common police services and other non-police grant earning expenditure.

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state, for Scotland, the number of police officers who were (a) charged with criminal offences and (b) convicted of criminal offences in (i) 1979 and (ii) 1986 or the latest available year, with a breakdown for each police force.

Mr. Lang

This information is not available centrally in the precise form requested, but the table has been

1979 1986
Force Reports dealt with Number of reports resulting in convictions Reports dealt with Number of reports resulting in convictions
Central Scotland 33 2 25
Dumfries and Galloway 8 2
Fife 22 6 30 3
Grampian 10 2 19 4
Lothian and Borders 42 17 39 14
Northern 36 9 19 3
Strathclyde 139 36 102 37
Tayside 58 13 79 5
SCOTLAND 340 85 321 68

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state, for Scotland, the number of complaints of criminal conduct by the police and the number of resultant (a) prosecutions and (b) successful prosecutions in (i) 1979 and (ii) 1986 or the latest available year, with a breakdown for each police force.

Force Complaints, etc. referred to procurator fiscal Number of cases resulting in criminal proceedings Number of cases resulting in finding of guilt
1979 1986 1979 1986 1979 1986
Central Scotland 23 27 1
Dumfries and Galloway 8 9
Fife 11 30 1
Grampian 12 61 1 1 1
Lothian and Borders 145 159 3 1
Northern 14 17 3 1
Strathclyde 239 422 1 15 6
Tayside 41 66 2 3 2 1
SCOTLAND 493 791 7 24 4 8

compiled from statistical returns by chief constables. It shows (a) the number of cases involving police officers dealt with by procurators fiscal in 1979 and 1986 following reports submitted by forces in respect of officers alleged to have committed offences either on or off duty, and (b) the number of these cases which resulted in convictions. The submission of a report to the procurator fiscal does not necessarily imply that the officer had been charged with a criminal offence.

Mr. Lang

In terms of the Police (Discipline) (Scotland) Regulations 1967, as amended, all reports or allegations from which it may reasonably be inferred that a police officer has committed a criminal offence must be referred to the procurator fiscal. The following table indicates the number of such cases dealt with in 1979 and 1986 which resulted in(a) criminal proceedings and (b) a finding of guilt.

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state, for Scotland, the total local authority expenditure on police as a percentage of all local authority expenditure in (a) 1979 and (b) 1986 or the latest available year, with a breakdown for each local authority.

Mr. Lang

The information is set out in the table :

Expenditure on the police by regional and island authorities expressed as a percentage of their total expenditure on local authority services
1979–80 1985–86
Central 6.2 7.8
Dumfries and Galloway 7.8 9.1
Fife 7.5 8.0
Grampian 7.0 8.5
Strathclyde 9.0 10.0
Tayside 9.2 10.1
Lothian and Borders 9.5 10.9
Highland, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland 5.5 6.5
All Scotland 8.4 9.5

Notes:

(1) The figures given represent expenditure on the police as a percentage of expenditure by regional and island authorities on local authority services; expenditure by district authorities has not been taken into the calculation.

(2) Expenditure on local authority services is taken as the sum of net current expenditure (excluding loan charges) and net capital

Force 1979 (Occasions) 1986 (Operations)
Issued Used Issued Used
(a) (b) (a) (b)
Central Scotland 10 1 3 3
Dumfries and Galloway 15 12 1 1
Fife 5 9
Grampian 12 1 11
Lothian and Borders 65 18
Northern 19 5
Strathclyde 562 1 111 4 1 4
Tayside 11 7
Scotland 699 2(c) 174 8 1 8
(a) Refers to operations and use against persons known or believed to be armed.
(b) Refers to operations and use for the destruction of animals.
(c) On both occasions firearms were used for the destruction of animals.

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state, for Scotland, the ratio of police officers per head of population in (a) 1979, (b) 1986 or the latest available year with a breakdown for each police force.

Mr. Lang

The estimated population (as at 30 June) per police officer on authorised establishement as at 31 December in each year was as follows:

Force 1979 1986
Central Scotland 539 489
Dumfries and Galloway 469 441
Fife 525 470
Grampian 504 504
Lothian and Borders 360 353
Northern 437 452
Strathclyde 350 337
Tayside 419 392
Scotland 390 377

expenditure in accordance with public expenditure survey definitions.

(3) Lothian and Borders regions are served by a joint police force; similarly Highland region and the three island authorities are served by a joint force.

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state, for Scotland, the number of occasions and the number of officers involved when police officers were authorised to carry firearms and the number of occasions when firearms were used (a) 1979 and (b) 1986 or the latest available year with a breakdown for each police force.

Mr. Lang

The information available is set out in the table. It should be noted that the basis on which the information was recorded was changed in 1984. Formerly, the total number of occasions on which firearms were issued was shown. This, however, was found to lead to inconsistencies of interpretation since, during any particular operation, a firearm could be issued to an individual officer on more than one occasion. From 1984, therefore, the records show separately the number of operations in which firearms were issued against(a) persons known or believed to be armed and (b) for the destruction of animals.

Information as to the number of police officers involved on each occasion or in each operation is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state, for Scotland, the ratio of police per reported crime in (a) 1979, and (b) 1986 or the latest available year with a breakdown for each police force.

Mr. Lang

The number of reported crimes per police officer on authorised establishement as at 31 December in each year was as follows:

Force 1979 1986
Central Scotland 27.4 36.8
Dumfries and Galloway 15.9 22.0
Fife 21.8 32.6
Grampian 24.8 37.6
Lothian and Borders 26.5 33.4
Northern 14.7 20.7
Strathclyde 28.0 35.5
Tayside 25.2 35.6
Scotland 26.1 34.2

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether if he will state, for Scotland, the number of police officers residing in council housing accommodation and in owner occupied accommodation and in other accommodation in (a) 1979 and (b) 1986 or the latest available year, with a breakdown of the figures for each police force.

Force Police authority1 accommodation Owner occupied accommodation Other accommodation Total
Central Scotland 49 432 68 549
Dumfries and Galloway 118 167 53 338
Fife 195 381 149 725
Grampian 307 504 184 995
Lothian and Borders 200 1,786 456 2,442
Northern Constabulary 305 299 6 610
Strathclyde 1,044 4,737 988 6,769
Tayside 182 627 191 1,000
Total 2,400 8,933 2,095 13,428
1 Includes houses owned by police authority and those rented from local housing authority.

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state, for Scotland, the number of police officers resident within the communities for which they have primary policing responsibility in (a) 1979, (b) 1986 or the latest available year, with a breakdown of the figure for each police force in Scotland.

Mr. Lang

This information is not available.

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state, for each police force in Scotland, the number and location of manned police stations or sub-stations in (a) 1979 and (b) 1986 or the latest available year, with a breakdown of the figures for each police force in Scotland.

1979 Establishment (Strength)1 1986 Establishment (Strength)1
Force Police Cadets 2Civilians Police Cadets 2Civilians
Central Scotland 505 (509) 34 (23) 148 (135) 556 (549) 34 (9) 153 (142)
Dumfries and Galloway 305 (311) 18 (15) 95 (84) 333 (338) 18 (7) 111 (101)
Fife 653 (671) 30 (30) 188 (139) 732 (725) 30 (14) 197 (188)
Grampian 920 (932) 35 (22) 257 (239) 997 (995) 35 (18) 310 (311)
Lothian and Borders 2,361 (2,342) 174 (103) 1,014 (778) 2,393 (2,442) 174 (—) 879 (889)
Northern 591 (603) 28 (22) 240 (264) 609 (610) 28 (1) 310 (292)
Strathclyde 6,977 (6,905) 459 (339) 2,235 (1,809) 6,954 (6,769) 459 (—) 1,936 (1,699)
Tayside 962 (941) 39 (33) 271 (250) 1,001 (1,000) 39 (—) 304 (300)
SCOTLAND TOTAL 13,274 (13,214) 817 (587) 4,448 (3,698) 13,575 (13,428) 817 (49) 4,200 (3,922)
1 Figures in brackets show the actual numbers in post.
2 Including part-time staff.

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state the annual average salary and the average actual earnings and the average amount of rent or housing allowance received by police officers in Scotland in (a) 1979 and (b) 1986 or the latest available year.

Mr. Lang

The information requested, in so far as available, is as follows:

1979–80 £ 1985–86 £
Average annual salary 1 10,967
Average annual earnings2 6,176 12,038
Average rent allowance3 1,276 2,525

Mr. Lang

The information as at 31 December 1986 is set out in the table:

Mr. Lang

I shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state, for Scotland, the authorised establishment and actual numbers of police officers and police cadets and civilian staff in (a) 1979 and (b) 1986 or the latest available year, with a breakdown for each police force.

Mr. Lang

The information, as at 31 December of each year, is as follows:

1 Not available separately.

2 Average annual earnings includes overtime payments.

3 Average rent allowance is based on the number of officers in receipt of rent allowance as at 31 December 1979 and 1985; other officers occupied rent and rate free accommodation provided by police authorities.

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state for each police force in Scotland the location of manned police stations or sub-stations (a) closed down and (b) opened since 1979.

Mr. Lang

I shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.

Mr. Canavan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will state, for Scotland, the total number of police officer-hours worked (i) in police stations or substations, (ii) in motor vehicles, (iii) on foot patrol and (iv) on other duties (a) in 1979 and (b) in 1986 or the latest available year; and whether he will give a breakdown for each Scottish police force area.

Mr. Lang

The information requested is not available.