Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the 13,000 additional (1) neighbourhood police officers, (2) PCSOs, and (3) special constables, they plan to deliver as part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will be (a) newly recruited, and (b) recruited internally from other parts of the police force.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Our approach to delivery in 2025-26 has been designed to deliver an initial increase to the neighbourhood policing workforce in a manner that is flexible and can be adapted to the local context and varied crime demands. This means the precise workforce mix is a local decision.
The Government has committed to publishing neighbourhood policing numbers every six months, to align with the official police workforce statistics. The next update is due at the end of January 2026, which will set out the numbers in neighbourhood policing roles as at the end of September 2025.
We will set out more information on the approach to future delivery in due course.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many additional (1) neighbourhood police officers, (2) PCSOs, and (3) special constables, have been recruited since the launch of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee on 4 December 2024, broken down by territorial police force.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
£200 million has been made available in 2025-26 to support the first steps towards delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament, including up to 3,000 additional neighbourhood officers by the end of March 2026.
Our approach to delivery in 2025-26 has been designed to deliver an initial increase to the neighbourhood policing workforce in a manner that is flexible and can be adapted to the local context and varied crime demands. This means the precise workforce mix is a local decision.
Full details of the Neighbourhood Policing Grant allocations and projections for 2025-26 can be found here:Neighbourhood policing grant allocations - GOV.UK
The Government has committed to publishing neighbourhood policing numbers every six months, to align with the official police workforce statistics. The next update is due at the end of January 2026, which will set out the numbers in neighbourhood policing roles as at the end of September 2025.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they define (1) a ‘neighbourhood’, and (2) a 'visible patrol', in relation to their Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee (NPG) commitments, which were met in July 2025, were delivered in line with police forces’ existing neighbourhood structures based on local needs shaped by a range of factors, including geography, crime types, urban or rural context, and population size and density. The NPG confirms by the end of this Parliament, we will work with forces and local councils to define neighbourhood areas to be locally recognisable and practical for policing.
Neighbourhood policing teams are spending the majority of their time within their communities, undertaking patrols and actively engaging with residents and businesses to tackle issues that matter to their communities, such as anti-social behaviour. Police forces are increasing town centre patrols based on local demand and intelligence.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee since it was launched on 4 December 2024.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee set out commitments for police forces to implement, by July 2025, and by the end of Parliament. Forces are now delivering on the Guarantee across England and Wales to ensure consistent and high-quality neighbourhood policing. This includes every force now having named, contactable officers dedicated to addressing the issues facing their communities, neighbourhood officers spending the majority of their time in their communities, responding to neighbourhood queries within 72 hours and all forces having an ASB lead.
Additionally, the Government has made £200 million available in 2025/26 to support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales, including up to 3000 additional neighbourhood officers by March 2026.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the total cost of redundancies that will be incurred as a result of the decision to abolish Police and Crime Commissioners.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
No civil servants will lose their jobs as a result of the decision. The Home Office will work with Offices of Police and Crime Commissioners and local authorities on local transition arrangements, including any impact on local staffing, ahead of implementation in 2028. Following the approach taken for previous transfers of police governance in mayoral areas, costs of transition are expected to be met locally through existing budgets.
It will be for local areas to determine the staffing they need under these new arrangements and no decisions have yet been taken on this. We expect new arrangements to be lower cost as a result of rationalising support arrangements and joining up local service delivery, which can fund more neighbourhood police on the beat across the country.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many civil servants they expect will be made redundant as a result of their decision to abolish Police and Crime Commissioners.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
No civil servants will lose their jobs as a result of the decision. The Home Office will work with Offices of Police and Crime Commissioners and local authorities on local transition arrangements, including any impact on local staffing, ahead of implementation in 2028. Following the approach taken for previous transfers of police governance in mayoral areas, costs of transition are expected to be met locally through existing budgets.
It will be for local areas to determine the staffing they need under these new arrangements and no decisions have yet been taken on this. We expect new arrangements to be lower cost as a result of rationalising support arrangements and joining up local service delivery, which can fund more neighbourhood police on the beat across the country.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how long they anticipate it will take for every police force in England and Wales to replace existing taser devices with the new Taser 10 models
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Taser provides specially trained officers with an important tactical option to protect the public and save lives.
The deployment of Taser, including Taser 10, remains an operational decision for Chief Officers in line with their Strategic Threats and Risk Assessments.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are considering other sites to temporarily house asylum seekers; and if so, whether they will list any sites actively being considered.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government are working to move asylum seekers into more suitable accommodation such as military bases, to ease pressure on communities across the country.
It has been the longstanding policy of the Home Office under successive governments not to disclose information about specific hotels/sites which may or may not be used for asylum accommodation.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Queen's Own Highlanders Regimental Association will be required to relocate from Cameron Barracks in Inverness as a result of plans to temporarily house asylum seekers there; and if so, where they will be relocated to, and will they be compensated for any costs incurred.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Discussions are underway to use the Cameron Barracks site for asylum accommodation. Consideration of this site is ongoing and any final decision to utilise any site for the intended purposes will be made once the relevant factors have been properly considered.
The government remains committed to engaging with local authorities and stakeholders, and to transitioning away from hotel use as soon as practicable.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to processing asylum claims on site at (1) Cameron barracks, and (2) Crowborough army training camp, when those sites are operational.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Discussions are underway regarding the use of Cameron Barracks and Crowborough for asylum accommodation. It is our longstanding policy not to comment on individual asylum accommodation sites, or on operational arrangements around those sites.
The Home Office already has digital interviewing capability that enables more claimants to be interviewed remotely. We will explore all options to provide better capacity.
The Home Office is working closely with local authorities, police, and community partners to ensure both sites operate safely and respectfully, and all alternative accommodation sites will provide basic, functional, and humane accommodation while asylum claims are processed.