§ Mr. LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is Her Majesty's Government's policy towards special constables; and what have been the difficulties in the implementation of that policy.
§ Mr. Peter LloydOur policy is to encourage chief officers of police to increase the numbers of special constables and to deploy them, after suitable training, on interesting and challenging duties in support of the regular police. Over the past 10 years there has been a decline in the number of special constables, but we hope to redress this through a national publicity campaign starting in 1991 and extending over the next three years.
§ Mr. LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there are at present; how many there have been in each of the past 10 years; and how many there are expected to be over the next five years.
§ Mr. Peter LloydAt the end of 1989 there were 15,589 special constables in England and Wales. The numbers enrolled on 31 December of each year from 1980 were as follows:
Special constables 1980 15,108 1981 14,978 1982 15,160 1983 15,331 1984 16,021 1985 16,161 1986 16,070 1987 16,209 1988 15,788 It is not possible to predict the number of special constables for the next five years but we shall be launching a national publicity campaign in 1991 with the aim of increasing the numbers.