HC Deb 22 March 1990 vol 169 cc746-7W
28. Mr. Roger King

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of special constables now attached to police forces in England and Wales; and if he will encourage chief constables to recruit more, particularly among ethnic minority communities.

98. Mr. Lord

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of special constables now attached to police forces in England and Wales; and if he will encourage chief constables to recruit more, particularly among ethnic minority communities.

102. Mr. Michael Brown

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number of special constables now attached to police forces in England and Wales; and if he will encourage chief constables to recruit more, particularly among ethnic minority communities.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

On 31 December 1989, there were 15,589 special constables in England and Wales (10,390 men and 5,199 women). Of the total, 469 were from the ethnic minority communities. We encourage chief constables to recruit as many special constables as they can and to make special efforts to recruit from the ethnic minority communities.

43. Mr. John Townend

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the discussions he had in February with the Police Advisory Board on introducing further measures to improve recruitment of special constables.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The police advisory board welcomed a proposal for a national publicity campaign, which will commence later this year. There was a divergence of views on the question of an incentive payment or "bounty", and this will be further considered in the light of those views.