Police Reform

David Taylor Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I obviously talk to my colleagues in MHCLG often, but I will leave to them the decisions they make in the areas they are responsible for. I am, however, happy to pass on the hon. Gentleman’s comments.

[David Taylor (Hemel Hempstead) (Lab)]

I welcome today’s announcement. I want to ask about the transfer to council and mayoral oversight in the context of a challenge I have locally. I have an amazing local police force in Hemel police. Officers often encounter instances of individuals and families who are responsible for antisocial behaviour affecting their neighbours where the landlord of the house or site is the district or county council, but those offices—the county council in particular —are not upholding their responsibilities as a landlord to deal with antisocial behaviour, and the police are therefore struggling to deal with some of these issues despite their best efforts. I wonder whether the Minister would outline how the changes today might tackle that specific problem.

[Sarah Jones]

My hon. Friend is right. Preventing crime is everybody’s problem, and we need to ensure that everybody feels the responsibility of that and works effectively together to tackle crime. Our police cannot arrest their way out of a lot of the challenges that we face. In the example my hon. Friend gave, we rely on the local authorities, which are the landlords of those properties, to ensure that people are behaving as they should. We are endeavouring to ensure that the police, and the local authorities, have the right powers to take action in a speedy fashion. We genuinely believe that if organisations are brought together in the models we are suggesting today, that will improve joint working.