§ 14. Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Government's target of(a) 5,000 extra police officers nationwide and (b) 1,000 extra police officers in London will be reached. [19795]
§ Mr. HowardThe additional £180 million being allocated over three years from April 1996 is sufficient to allow the police service in England and Wales, including the Metropolitan police, to recruit 5,000 constables by March 1999. Chief constables have estimated that the first 1,000 extra officers will be recruited in the present financial year.
§ 16. Mr. SweeneyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of extra police officers to be appointed in(a) England, (b) Wales and (c) the South Wales police authority in 1997–98. [19797]
§ Mr. MacleanIt is for individual chief constables and police authorities to determine the number of officers in each force, having regard to the resources available to them. The additional £40 million we have allocated for extra officers in 1997–98 is sufficient to recruit 1,888 more police constables in England, and 112 in Wales, including 47 in the South Wales constabulary.