To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government is committed to the provision of an additional 1,000 officers for front-line policing. (S3F-79)

We are committed to delivering. That will require a co-ordinated, carefully planned and innovative approach. Plans to deliver our commitment are being drawn up and we will publish them in early course.

I am grateful for that reassurance. Does the First Minister agree that the public want the additional police officers to be occupied on the front line providing a visible and tangible deterrent and investigating crime? That being the case, does he agree that, bearing in mind the significant costs involved, the best solution might be to invite joint police boards to apply for the additional moneys, subject to schemes being approved by the Scottish Executive to ensure that the money will be used for the intended purpose—namely, front-line policing—rather than for administrative purposes?

I share Bill Aitken's concern. It would be useful to take up those matters in discussion with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice. We have the same objective, which is to get more front-line police on to the streets in communities throughout Scotland. The main thing is that we work constructively to achieve the implementation of that shared objective.

I rather liked the remarks that Jackson Carlaw made during the safer and stronger debate about the 1,500 additional officers that the Conservative party had committed to provide and the 1,000 additional officers that the SNP had promised. He said:

"It would be interesting to know how the SNP arrived at its requirement figure; come to that, it would be interesting to know how we arrived at ours."—[Official Report, 6 June 2007; c 421-22.]

Discussion all round with people who want to achieve the objective of putting more police on the streets in communities throughout Scotland is what is called for, so that together we can deliver on that commitment.

Following on from the quotation that the First Minister read out, does he agree that the Executive would be in breach of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 if it placed police officers in our communities, as the act states that chief constables have the sole responsibility for operational decisions about police deployment and enforcing law in their areas?

I cannot imagine that any chief constable in Scotland would disagree with the proposition that they should have the resources to put more policemen on to the streets and into the communities of Scotland.