Lib Dems' Nick Clegg pledges more police on beat

Labour says police numbers have risen sharply since 1997

The Liberal Democrats are to outline plans to put 3,000 more police officers on the beat over four years.

Under the plan, funded by savings from scrapping identity cards, all forces in England, Wales and Scotland would get extra money to boost force numbers.

Party leader Nick Clegg will say Labour has "talked tough" on crime but police numbers have fallen in 40% of forces in England and Wales since 2005.

Ministers say police numbers are at record levels and budgets are rising.

Last September, in a "pre-manifesto" ahead of their annual conference, the Lib Dems pledged to recruit up to 10,000 more police officers - a policy that was also part of their 2005 election manifesto.

'Priority funding'

The Conservatives say they will slash the paperwork involved in stop and search and arrest procedures to enable officers to spend more time on patrol.

Labour has insisted it will protect police and other frontline services from anticipated future spending cuts but some forces expect police numbers to fall over the next few years while others have frozen recruitment.

Launching its policing manifesto for the general election, Mr Clegg will claim that the Lib Dems are the "only party" committed to putting more officers on the beat.

Labour and the Conservatives may talk tough but they are unwilling to make the crucial decisions to cut crime

Nick Clegg

The party plans to provide an extra £575m for police recruitment, enabling every police force in England, Wales and Scotland to boost full-time police numbers.

Any such move in Scotland would be dependent on approval by the SNP-led government in Edinburgh.

Although it would be up to individual forces to allocate resources as they see fit, the Lib Dems say they hope to see 3,000 more officers on the beat by the end of the next Parliament.

The party estimates the resource boost would give London an extra 595 officers while Greater Manchester, West Midlands and West Yorkshire would all see a three-figure rise in numbers.

Solving crimes

The party will question Labour's record by publishing research suggesting 18 out of 43 forces in England and Wales have seen a fall in full-time police numbers since 2005.

On a visit to Durham, Mr Clegg will say that - notwithstanding acute spending pressures - extra funding must be found to enable the police to make more arrests and solve more crimes.

"When only one in a hundred crimes end up with a conviction in court, it is time for things to change," he will say.

"Labour and the Conservatives may talk tough but they are unwilling to make the crucial decisions to cut crime."

Official figures published last month show there were just under 145,000 full-time police officers in service last September, 2,121 more than the previous year and 20,000 up on when Labour came to power in 1997.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson has said the overall police budget will increase to £8.3bn next year and funding to maintain "frontline strength" is guaranteed until 2013.

He has stressed that it remains up to individual chief constables to determine the right size and make-up of their workforce between full-time officers, community support officers and police staff.

The Liberal Democrats will also call for all police officers to undergo an annual fitness check-up and say they will review pay, conditions and terms of employment across the service.