HC Deb 13 May 1993 vol 224 c548W
20. Mr. Miller

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he intends to take to increase the numbers of police officers on the streets.

Mr. Charles Wardle

We have increased numbers by 16,500 since 1979. Increasing police strength is not, though, the only way to increase the number of front-line officers. We encourage police authorities to civilianise posts which do not need to be done by police officers, and to ensure that their officers are deployed as effectively as possible. This will allow more police officers to be released for operational duties, rather than having to undertake administrative tasks which can be done by others.