§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the effects of the extra £250 million investment on crime prevention in(a) the North West and (b) Chorley. [52458]
§ Mr. StrawThe crime reduction strategy which I announced on 21 July 1998,Official Report, column 913, is designed to produce long term benefits in reducing offending as well as having a more immediate impact on certain kinds of crime, such as burglary. I shall make further announcements in the autumn on how the crime reduction strategy will operate.
§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will estimate the impact on the number of police officers on the beat of the creation of a North West regional police force; [52459]
259W(2) what assessment he has made of the savings and efficiencies which will be created through the development of a North West regional police force based on the RDA. [52460]
§ Mr. MichaelWe have no proposals to create regional police forces in England and Wales, and consequently have made no assessment of the effects of doing so.
It is for individual chief constables to determine the number of police officers on the beat within available resources. We are working with the police to ensure that the resources which the Government make available to them are used as efficiently as possible, with the emphasis on outputs and outcomes rather than on inputs.