Quarterly Commentary
| Date | 01 April 1958 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X5803100201 |
| Published date | 01 April 1958 |
| Subject Matter | Quarterly Commentary |
THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
VOL.
XXXI.
No.2
APRIL-JUNE,
1958
Quarterly
Commentary
THE
SELECT
COMMITfEE'S
REPORT
:rr
was inevitable that. sooner or later. the sum of £40 millions. which
the Treasury now contribute by way of Exchequer grant towards
half the cost incurred in maintaining police forces in England and
Wales. should come under scrutiny by the Select Committee on
Estimates. The report. recently published. follows the general pattern
of such investigations and appraisal by a Committee of 36 members,
representative of all parties in the House of Commons. The Com-
mittee's procedure is to select some section of the Civil Estimates and
by means of a sub-committee to examine witnesses and by inspection
see for themselves the manner and means by which public monies
voted by Parliament are spent. In recent years the Select Committee
on Estimates has. in tum. given its attention to sections of the Civil
Estimates devoted to technical and general education, the fire service.
and other grant-aided services for which local authorities are primarily
responsible. Reports. with recommendations for tightening up the
economy and stimulating the efficiency of the services examined,
followed in each case.
The Police service was last under review by a Select Committee in
1932. when the subject was amalgamation. Recommendations were
made for a reduction in the number of very small forces. After much
discussion and effort to reconcile the sharply opposed opinions on the
merit of the proposals. legislative action eventually followed in 1946.
The Police Act. 1946, secured the abolition of 31 small forces main-
tained by non-county boroughs (with the exception of Cambridge City
and Peterborough). and confirmed a war-time measure by which the
non-county borough police forces. in 1942. had been temporarily
absorbed by certain forces on the South Coast. In addition. by the
Act of 1946 machinery was established by which police forces could
be amalgamated by mutual agreement or. subject to local inquiry and
73
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