Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Skidmore Excerpts

Monday 9th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr David Ruffley (Bury St Edmunds) (Con)]

9. What steps she has taken to empower police officers to reduce crime.

[Chris Skidmore (Kingswood) (Con)]

19. What steps she has taken to empower police officers to reduce crime.

[The Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice (Nick Herbert)]

The Government have swept away central targets and cut police red tape. Our package of policies to reduce bureaucracy is saving up to 4.5 million hours of police time a year, freeing officers to focus on their core mission, which is to cut crime.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

There is plenty of scope there for an Adjournment debate, I think.

[Chris Skidmore]

I have been working with Asda and Avon and Somerset police on setting up a police booth in Asda in Longwell Green to ensure an increased police presence in the area and to empower police officers to help reduce crime at little cost. Will the Minister welcome such innovative measures and encourage all forces to consider how to engage with local businesses that might be keen to fight crime?

[Nick Herbert]

I welcome that initiative, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising it. It is a very good example of how police forces are using innovative means to maintain, or indeed increase, their presence in local communities. Setting up such booths in supermarkets can bring a large number of people into contact with the police—far more than might choose to visit a police station.