David Crausby
Main Page: David Crausby (Labour - Bolton North East)Department Debates - View all David Crausby's debates with the Home Office
(13 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
James Brokenshire
I am not familiar with the detail of the individual event to which the hon. Gentleman refers, but we are looking at temporary event notices and how community events are licensed, and if issues continue to prevail in relation to that situation no doubt he will write to me.
Mr David Crausby (Bolton North East) (Lab)
7. How many police officers there were in England and Wales in March (a) 2010 and (b) 1997.
The Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice (Nick Herbert)
On 31 March 2010 there were 142,132 police officers, compared with 125,825 on 31 March 1997.
Mr Crausby
I thank the Minister for that reply. Does he believe that the previous Labour Government spent too much on police officers and too little on the European Union budget?
Nick Herbert
I will not be drawn on the European budget, but I can tell the hon. Gentleman what the previous Government spent too much on—red tape that tied up police officers and wasted police time. When we had a position whereby police officers were spending more time on paperwork than on patrol, we knew that something had gone wrong: it was costly and it reduced police availability.