Police: Additional Officers
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Baroness Harris of Richmond
The Earl of Courtown
The noble Lord makes a good point, particularly on the community teams and the valued work they carry out. The noble Lord will be aware that the deployment of officers is a decision that will be made by the local chief constables and the democratically accountable police and crime commissioners, so where these resources go will be in their hands.
Baroness Harris of Richmond (LD)
My Lords, does the noble Earl not think that having all these extra police officers will require management? Does he know whether police superintendents will be included in that number and, following on from that, whether any other police resources will be given to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, which desperately needs more officers?
The Earl of Courtown
The noble Baroness mentioned police resources in Northern Ireland. I will ensure that my noble friend the Minister is aware of her question; I will ask him to respond to that part of it. The noble Baroness makes some important points. It is so important that we get the training right so that the logistics are in there. This is all part of the scheme. The logistics will be available to properly train these police recruits. There have so far been 160,000 hits on the employment site advertising these jobs, of which over half looked at specific recruitment opportunities.
Flooding: Tourist Attractions
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Baroness Harris of Richmond
Baroness Harris of Richmond
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to support tourist attractions, such as the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, which suffered flooding over the Christmas period.
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, this Government are committed to supporting all businesses, including tourism businesses, affected by the floods. We are currently working with VisitEngland and VisitBritain to highlight what is on offer and to encourage visitors to book holidays to the region in the Easter period. In the longer term, we are supporting the tourist industry through the development and delivery of a five-point plan which sets out our vision for tourism in this Parliament.
Baroness Harris of Richmond (LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. When I visited the Jorvik Viking Centre in York last week, it was a scene of utter devastation. The centre attracts more than 400,000 visitors a year and has had more than 18 million visitors since it opened in 1984. It is a world-renowned tourist attraction and educational centre, provided by the excellent York Archaeological Trust, of which I am a member and which depends largely on its funding from the Viking centre. The trust could be destroyed by this enormous loss of revenue. The City of York Council and North Yorkshire County Council are anxious to see this important centre brought back to life as soon as possible, as we all are. So will Her Majesty’s Government urgently match any funding that the councils can make possible to enable and encourage this to happen?