Police Funding: North-east England

Debate between Luke Myer and Sarah Jones

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Westminster Hall

[Sarah Jones]

My hon. Friend and I have had several conversations on this matter in recent times. Of course, I have talked to Victoria, I am well aware of all the statistics and I understand what my hon. Friend is saying. What I am saying is that we are reviewing the funding formula, and it will be fair.

The funding for the year ahead will be allocated and it will not be under the new funding formula. At the moment, we are going through a process to which the chief constable, Matt Storey and all the police chiefs and PCCs from across England and Wales are party. They can come to us while we allocate funding for next year and tell us their exceptional financial situation or exceptional circumstances. Of course, we are having those conversations with colleagues across the north-east, as all Members present would expect.

Although the funding formula will come with the reforms, we are looking right now at what we will do about the exceptional funding requests that people are making across the country. That is the second thing I wanted to say: there is a process, and we are looking at the funding for the next funding year, as well as reforming the funding formula, which will come later.

[Luke Myer]

I welcome the commitment to changing the funding formula. That is genuinely a seismic change. The point that my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East (Andy McDonald) is making is that we cannot wait. This Government have already been in for two years, and it will be another two years until PCCs are abolished. We are encountering these incidents every single day. Last year, Norfolk had 20,000 fewer crimes than Cleveland but received £50 million more in funding. That cannot be justified. It is unfair and it is un-Labour. I urge the Minister to look at what can be done in-year and to look at the proposal to accelerate reforms in the north-east in particular.

[Sarah Jones]

That is exactly the point about looking at the funding for the coming year. We are doing that. We are looking at the exceptional circumstances for police forces across the country right now, and what we need to do about that.

I want to touch briefly on police reform, which some people have mentioned. The point of police reform is to do two things. The first is to make sure our police are equipped to tackle the epidemic of everyday crime that we see in our communities, and the second is to make sure we are equipped to tackle the changing nature of crime. Most crimes have a digital footprint. Serious organised crime does not pay any attention to boundaries and is much more complex than it used to be. Members have mentioned online sexual abuse, for example. We need to be able to tackle complex crimes. That is the point of police reform. We do not have the time now for me to set out how we will achieve the changes that we will achieve, but we will legislate on the police reform programme in this Session. We will introduce changes to the structure of police forces, and the way in which the funding formula works will have to fit with those structural changes.

Importantly, we are also putting more police in our neighbourhoods. I want to make one final point, which is hard to make in a short space of time. We have had lots of conversations on police numbers, which I understand and appreciate and do not disagree with, but we cannot judge a police force on just numbers. It does not work. When the Tories were in, they cut police numbers by 20,000. They then rushed to recruit another 20,000, and arrest rates have actually gone down because we have 12,000 officers sat behind desks, not out in our communities fighting crime.

We have had no investment in technology over the Tory years, which means that everybody has to spend hours filling in forms and doing the bureaucracy—I am sure that hon. Members find the same whenever they go out with the police. If we can cut that, people will have more time to be more productive. If we can get police out from behind desks and into our communities, they can be more productive. I am not denying the point that hon. Members make about police numbers, but if we measure just police numbers, that does not actually reflect what the police do and how they do it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Luke Myer and Sarah Jones

Monday 13th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

As part of our measures to tackle antisemitism, this morning we have announced funding for an additional 500 police officers in areas where we need them most, which I am sure that Members across the House will welcome. The right hon. Gentleman asks about forces. As he will know, a review is currently being undertaken by Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe, who is looking at both local policing units and regional-level units, as well as the national police service, which we will be introducing.

[Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

I welcome the 48 new neighbourhood officers and policy community support officers who have joined Cleveland police in the last year, but I want to see an overhaul of the national police funding formula to support the Cleveland area. The Policing Minister has committed to do that, but can she clarify the timeline for when we will see the formula changed and more officers back on our streets again?

[Sarah Jones]

My hon. Friend is right that the funding formula is completely outdated. It was not updated by the previous Government, and it is almost decades old. We are going to review it, and we are working on that now as part of the reform programme. As soon as we have an announcement, we will bring it forward.

Knife Crime

Debate between Luke Myer and Sarah Jones

Tuesday 14th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I never cease to be amazed by how incredibly resilient people are in their ability to suffer such loss and then come forward and campaign to ensure that it does not happen again. There are a number of different ways in which people can get involved—for instance, through the work of violence reduction units and local violence reduction plans. I am sure I can give my hon. Friend a list of organisations with which her constituent could potentially get involved. We need as many people as possible to help in this regard, because what is needed is a community-led and community-driven response.

[Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

I regularly raise the need for more resources for frontline policing in Cleveland. We have a small population but high deprivation, and the police funding formula does not take account of the severity of crime in our region—including knife crime, the prevalence of which is among the highest in the country. I welcome the 48 new police personnel who have begun neighbourhood roles over the last year, but what more can we do to get more resources to the frontline and make our streets safe again?

Draft Public Order Act 2023 (Interference With Use or Operation of Key National Infrastructure) Regulations 2025

Debate between Luke Myer and Sarah Jones

Wednesday 17th December 2025 General Committees

[Sarah Jones]

I am sure my hon. Friend made her points with the same passion that she has spoken with this afternoon.

[Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

I am a fierce defender of animal welfare— I always will be—and I believe that we are not moving quickly enough to phase out animal testing, but does the Minister agree that the pace is not what the draft regulations are principally about? They are quite tightly drafted Home Office regulations on the powers for police to respond to disruptive and illegal activity at our vaccine sites, which affects our pandemic preparedness.

We in Teesside have a Fujifilm facility near Stockton— the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Stockton West will know it well—and Teessiders were very proud to produce the vaccine there during the covid pandemic. As we phase out animal testing, we must not hamper that ability—that is what today’s debate is all about.

[Sarah Jones]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; perhaps he is telling me to get a move on with my speech and address the public order aspects, which I want to cover, as they are so important.

The draft regulations were laid on 27 November. Members have raised concerns about that, saying that we are going too fast. I wrote to the Home Affairs and Science, Innovation and Technology Committees, as is the right thing to do, so we are following a process. The draft regulations will also go to the Lords, after which they will be agreed, if Members vote for them.

We are amending the 2023 Act, but we are not changing the thresholds of anything; we are just adding an additional category to the list of key infrastructure. We are not changing what can or cannot be done under the existing law, or the level or threshold of police intervention. We are just adding life sciences to the list.

Speciality Steel UK: Insolvency

Debate between Luke Myer and Sarah Jones

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

As the hon. Lady will know, one of the blast furnaces had already closed by the time we came into government. We had long conversations with Tata about a different model that we had hoped it would pursue. We were unsuccessful with that. We have now improved the outcomes and the support for that workforce, and I was very pleased to be at the first stage of the build of the electric arc furnace at Port Talbot in July, which will secure many thousands of jobs there. We will continue to support Port Talbot with the £500 million that we are investing.

[Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for her statement, and for the decisive action this Government have taken to safeguard steel jobs across the country. Liberty Pipes is delivering an important contract for the Government’s landmark carbon capture, usage and storage project in our region. Can the Minister provide assurance not only that those jobs in our region are unaffected, but that this project continues at pace?

[Sarah Jones]

Liberty Pipes is separate and is not part of this situation at all. Of course, there will be concern in the wider group about the impact—I understand that—but at the moment, there is no crossover. Liberty Pipes will continue to do what it is doing and, I am sure, will continue to support the CCUS industry, which is great news for the workers there, and great news for us.

Scunthorpe Steelworks

Debate between Luke Myer and Sarah Jones

Thursday 27th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows that this is a private company that will make decisions of its own. We are operating within that environment. We have put an offer on the table that is about the development and redevelopment of Scunthorpe, the creation of an electric arc furnace and the transition for that. The offer is still on the table and we are still talking to the company about it. The reason that we are there on the ground now is that the company has decided to launch a consultation on redundancies, and it is right and proper that we are there to provide support to workers.

[Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

I commend the Minister and the Secretary of State for their hard graft to secure a deal in the interests of my steelworkers in Teesside and those in Scunthorpe. It is deeply concerning that Jingye has chosen to reject the generous offer that was on the table. I am sure I stand with Members across the House in urging Jingye to come back to the table and secure that deal. Will the Minister reaffirm that all options remain open, including strong national intervention to protect our steel industry and make sure that British steel is made here in Britain?

[Sarah Jones]

I know that my hon. Friend is working hard on behalf of his constituents; I appreciated being able to talk to him in the run-up to this. I can reassure him that this Government want to deliver a vibrant steel industry in the UK. We are very well aware of the importance of British Steel and of the Scunthorpe site and associated sites. We are doing all we can to make sure that we keep that operation going.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Luke Myer and Sarah Jones

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Sureena Brackenridge (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)]

22. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of Great British Energy on job creation in industrial communities.

[The Minister for Industry (Sarah Jones)]

The Government have two key missions: to become an energy superpower, and to grow the economy. Great British Energy will help us deliver on both those missions. The Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Rutherglen (Michael Shanks), will be taking the Great British Energy Bill through Committee today, and I am excited for the job creation potential in our industrial communities. From engineers to welders, and from electricians to project managers, Great British Energy will be powered by people across all the nations and regions of this great country.

[Luke Myer]

I welcome the Minister’s response and last week’s fantastic announcement about track 1 carbon capture investment in Teesside. Teesside has extraordinary potential for green jobs, whether in sustainable aviation fuel with Alfanar or in carbon capture, hydrogen and so much else. Does the Minister agree that only with Labour’s plan for clean power by 2030, Great British Energy and our national wealth fund can we create well-paid long-term jobs in the industries of the future?

[Sarah Jones]

I agree with my hon. Friend, and I thank him for his support. I doubt anybody would disagree with him on the benefits of our announcements on carbon capture and storage, which will create 4,000 jobs in the short term, with carbon capture more broadly creating up to 50,000 jobs over the next decade or so. [Interruption.] The Opposition Front Benchers chuckle, but I wonder whether, instead of dismissing that number of jobs, they might welcome them alongside Government Members. Alongside carbon capture, Great British Energy, our national wealth fund and our British jobs bonus, we are putting in place the levers to encourage growth across our country, and the Climate Change Committee estimates that up to 725,000 net new jobs could be created in low-carbon sectors by 2030.