§ Lord Janner of Braunstoneasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will take appropriate steps to improve morale in the police forces of the United Kingdom. [HL418]
§ Lord RookerAs part of the process of police reform, the Government are determined to tackle those elements of police officers' working lives that can create frustration and detract from their ability to do their jobs in the way that they would wish.
We are determined to reduce the burden of unnecessary bureaucracy.
We are investing in technological support to help increase the effectiveness of the police in fighting crime and to ensure that officers are able to spend as much of their time as possible on the front line.
An ambitious programme of work in police training has begun to raise professional standards for officers and support staff and to achieve greater consistency nationally.
We have turned round the decline in police numbers that started under the previous government. Substantial government investment in the police service is now delivering the positive results that we promised when the Crime Fighting Fund was launched in September 1999 and commenced in April 2000.
Police numbers rose in the 12 months to March 2001 by 1,349 officers, to 125,519. An increase of 1.1 per cent. This is the largest single annual increase in police numbers since 1988–89.
We intend that police numbers overall should continue to rise. We expect that police strength will reach 130,000 officers by March 2004.