In parliamentary debate yesterday, at the session called specially to discuss the urban unrest of the past week, prime minister David Cameron was drawn into commenting on the role of HR in the police.

Rhondda Labour MP Chris Bryant had told the PM police cuts meant it would be harder in future for Wales to "help out" if there were social unrest in England. The MP said: "He (Mr Cameron) commends Welsh police forces for sending people down from Wales, but in the next four years we're going to have 1,200 fewer officers in Wales and it's going to be more difficult for us to help you out."

The PM told him: "In Wales, as in England, there are opportunities to get officers out from desk jobs, and HR jobs and IT jobs."

During a pre-election televised ITV debate in April 2010, David Cameron, as Leader of the Opposition, had said: "The Metropolitan Police has 400 uniformed officers in its HR department, when our police should be crime-fighters, not form-fillers." Martin Tiplady, then the Met's HR director, questioned Cameron's grasp of the figures, commenting that of the 400 officers, 360 were in active training and assessing roles, rather than form-fillers stuck behind desks.

Speaking today, the Downing Street press office told HR magazine "it is up to the Met how they deploy staff". HR magazine asked whether in view of HR jobs frequently being mentioned in relation to job cuts, Number 10 sees value in HR roles. The Downing Street Press office replied "we haven't talked specifically about cutting HR jobs" and "it is not one of the things we have looked at".