§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received in respect of his decision not to include enforcement of road traffic regulations in the list of core functions for police authorities.
§ Mr. MacleanThere is no list of core functions for police authorities. My right hon. and learned Friend announced last October the key objectives for policing for 1995–96. Following consultation with ministerial colleagues and others he decided that it would not be right to include a traffic objective, but this does not mean that road traffic regulations will not be enforced. In promulgating the key objectives, my right hon. and learned Friend made plain the importance the Government attach to road safety, and the reduction of road traffic accident casualties.
It is open to police authorities to include traffic objectives as they consider fit in the local objectives which they will be expected to set each year.
§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were dedicated to traffic enforcement for each of the last five years for which figures are available by police authority.
§ Mr. MacleanInformation for the years 1989 to 1993 is set out in the table. Figures for 1994 are not yet available. The collection of data for the Metropolitan police began only in 1994.
149W
Officers dedicated to traffic enforcement by police authority (1989–1993) Police Authority 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 Avon and Somerset 253 259 268 266 208 Bedfordshire 94 99 101 80 73 Cambridgeshire 125 120 125 126 107 Cheshire 235 203 201 206 206 City of London 37 33 37 34 33 Cleveland 96 97 93 94 87 Cumbria 132 131 133 132 128 Derbyshire 157 154 153 146 155 Devon and Cornwall 241 241 239 238 227 Dorset 108 112 111 95 97 Durham 130 135 134 113 115 Dyfed-Powys 104 106 101 94 105 Essex 259 262 274 272 293 Gloucestershire 82 84 83 83 82 Greater Manchester 455 474 467 462 425 Gwent 105 103 100 95 90 Hampshire 263 263 261 343 269 Hertfordshire 159 156 155 157 159 Humberside 164 161 161 161 160 Kent 156 172 208 234 230 Lancashire 305 292 287 282 276 Leicestershire 78 76 84 122 111 Lincolnshire 85 86 103 99 94 Merseyside 329 367 359 338 349 Norfolk 118 127 114 116 119 North Wales 134 134 137 136 125 North Yorkshire 156 161 147 139 132
Officers dedicated to traffic enforcement by police authority (1989–1993) Police Authority 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 Northamptonshire 89 100 98 102 99 Northumbria 251 253 253 244 249 Nottinghamshire 182 189 187 163 160 South Wales 266 256 248 247 231 South Yorkshire 206 208 213 219 202 Staffordshire 233 234 240 233 226 Suffolk 94 97 87 85 83 Surrey 225 202 203 213 209 Sussex 245 239 238 247 243 Thames Valley 326 341 354 344 345 Warwickshire 104 127 126 126 126 West Mercia 119 142 132 127 120 West Midlands 449 446 462 441 428 West Yorkshire 384 392 391 384 357 Wiltshire 101 96 103 104 115
§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each police authority the budget allocated for road traffic enforcement(a) as a total and (b) as a percentage of overall expenditure for each of the last five years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. MacleanThe information requested is not held centrally