HC Deb 16 January 1995 vol 252 c331W
Mr. Morley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contribution Associated British Ports is making toward policing in Plymouth.

Mr. Maclean

The officers deployed to Millbay dock are there to maintain public order and ensure that the public highway is kept clear. The chief constable has told me that there is therefore no question of charging any private concern for this deployment.

Mr. Morley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what complaints his Department has received from residents of Plymouth about the level of policing in residential areas since October 1994.

Mr. Maclean

None. It is for the chief constable to decide on the deployment of resources in Plymouth and in other districts of the Devon and Cornwall constabulary.

Mr. Jamieson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if the full cost of policing the export of live animals from Millbay docks in Plymouth will be met by Devon and Cornwall police;

(2) what has been the total cost to Devon and Cornwall police of providing escorts and protection for those transporting live animals for export from Millbay docks in Plymouth in the last 12 months.

Mr. Maclean

Police officers have been deployed at Millbay docks to maintain public order and ensure that the public highway is kept clear.

No estimate of the total cost of the operation has been made but, as at 13 January, the additional costs to the police were estimated at some £20,000.

Under the current funding arrangements, the Home Office pays 51 per cent. of all the force's expenditure on policing. In addition, support provided by the Department of the Environment brings the level of central Government support for policing to some 90 per cent.

Mr. Jamieson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 6 December,Official Report, column 151, if police officers are now being used to escort loads of live animals for export to Millbay docks in Plymouth.

Mr. Maclean

Police officers continue to be deployed at Millbay docks whenever necessary to maintain public order and ensure that the public highway is kept clear.