asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases, in each of the past seven years, damages have been paid after judgment under section 48(2)(a) of the Police Act 1964; what has been the average settlement figure for each year; and what was the average damages awarded.

[pursuant to his reply, 2 March 1987, c. 470]: The information in respect of police forces other than the Metropolitan police is not available centrally. For the Metropolitan police I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the information is as follows:

Year	Number of cases in which damages were awarded	Average amount of damages £	Average out of court settlement £
1980	4	1,224	—
1981	7	2,099	—
1982	9	7,071	1,013
1983	5	571	1,853
1984	7	2,231	—
1985	7	1,993	3,456
1986	10	4,684	6,353

The numbers of cases settled out of court in 1980, 1981 and 1984 are not readily available and the average out of court settlement cannot therefore be calculated. The totals of out of court settlements for these years, however, were £3,397, £10,585 and £162,986 respectively.