Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 7 Tachwedd 1991.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what impact recent changes to the conditions of special constables have had on recruiting; and what plans he has further to increase numbers of specials.
We are taking a series of measures to increase the strength of the special constabulary with the aim of recruiting an additional 10,000 special constables. We launched a national recruiting campaign at the beginning of this year and are shortly introducing a pilot scheme to pay a bounty to specials, as a further boost to recruitment. The latest information, from a sample of forces, suggests that strength increased by up to 6 per cent. in the first half of this year.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that exceedingly full and comprehensive reply—the type of reply that we have come to expect from this Minister. Does he agree that more special constables would do a great deal to reduce levels of crime, particularly if they were better trained and more adequately remunerated? Will he redouble his efforts to establish a corps of special constables who would play the same part as the Territorial Army vis-à-vis the regular Army?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his opening remarks, after which perhaps I should be brief in answering his supplementary question. The specials certainly show the kind of public spirit and professionalism of the Territorials. The difference, of course, is that the specials are not preparing for a conflict that we hope will never happen. They are already directly and effectively involved in the fight against crime—which, alas, is all too real—and are performing the role that my hon. Friend wants them to perform.