Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Deirdre Costigan and Sarah Jones

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

We are increasing funding to police and introducing more neighbourhood policing. We are also reforming a lot of the structures within policing to ensure that we have good quality leadership. Lord Blunkett and Lord Herbert did a big piece of work for us looking at how we ensure that we have good leadership across all our forces. We will be looking at their recommendations and bringing them forward.

[Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) (Lab)]

Ealing Southall is unique, as two thirds of our rough sleepers have overstayed their visas. Many would go home voluntarily but are often stopped at the airport because the police national computer says that there is a pending case against them, when in fact it has been closed. Will the Minister look at how the police national computer can be updated more regularly so that these people can leave a life on the streets in Southall and go home with dignity?

[Sarah Jones]

I was pleased to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency last week, where I saw for myself the struggles that those rough sleepers are having. We are trying to go through the piece of work to update the creaking infrastructure that was left to us by the last Government. I have certainly taken that issue away.

Community Policing: Government Support

Debate between Deirdre Costigan and Sarah Jones

Wednesday 21st October 2026 Westminster Hall

[Sarah Jones]

I reassure the hon. Member that, over the last two years, West Midlands police has had millions more in funding than it had the year before. This Government have given West Midlands police more money year on year since we came to power.

As every Member will know, I hope, we are prioritising a number of areas. The first is serious crime and knife crime. We have seen massive improvements in the area of knife crime, particularly knife murders, since we came to power. We are prioritising neighbourhood policing, and we have 4,000-odd extra neighbourhood police in our communities, which is beginning to make a difference. We have passed the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which among other things will introduce respect orders on Monday. That is a new power for police to use to go after persistent offenders in antisocial behaviour.

We are calling time on those people. In some circumstances, we know who they are, and we all know from our constituents the trouble that we have with them. When I was in Hemel Hempstead today, the police force had a list of 30 people who they are going to put in to the courts to get a respect order on, and they are hoping to go to court on Monday—on the first day that these orders are introduced. It is a powerful tool for the police to use, which I want to see used widely.

[Deirdre Costigan]

I thank the Minister for coming to Ealing Southall yesterday as part of the roll-out of respect orders. Does she agree that they will mean the police will be able to actually arrest people, rather than just move them on from one end of the town to the other?

[Sarah Jones]

I do. I very much enjoyed visiting my hon. Friend’s constituency.

I am aware of the short time I have left. I wanted to touch on all kinds of things—seasonality and rurality are two things that we are looking at in the review of the funding formula. In the reform of policing, we will set up a national police service for things such as organised and online crime, so that we will have a place where these things are done and the local police can focus on what they need to do.

New tech will mean less bureaucracy and more time out on our streets. We are working at pace to make sure we deliver the reforms that people want and expect, but I will come back to the starting point, which is that there is nothing more important than good community policing. It makes people feel safe, it makes people safe and it prevents crime, and this Government are committed to increasing, not diminishing, that resource.