(13 years, 5 months ago)
Commons Chamber11. What estimate she has made of the likely number of police officers in Greater Manchester in March 2015.
It is a matter for the chief constable and the police authority to determine the number of police officers that are deployed by Greater Manchester police within the available resource.
Crime levels went down under the previous Government. That is a well known fact. The chief constable of Greater Manchester estimates that around 1,500 officers will be lost because of the cuts. Can the Government justify that?
I should point out to the hon. Gentleman that there are also 4,000 police staff working in Greater Manchester police. There was a huge increase in the number of police staff employed by police forces under the previous Government. The chief constable of Greater Manchester police said in evidence to the Home Affairs Committee that
“there was already a recognition, certainly in Greater Manchester Police, that some of our headquarters operations had got too big.”
Forces can and must make savings in back and middle offices while protecting the front line.