Oral Answers to Questions

Shockat Adam Excerpts

Monday 13th January 2025 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Shockat Adam (Leicester South) (Ind)]

1. What steps she is taking to ensure that the police have adequate resources to help tackle neighbourhood crime.

[Bobby Dean (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)]

2. What steps she is taking to improve the effectiveness of community policing.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)]

Before I respond, I am sure that the whole House will want to remember PC Rosie Prior, who was tragically killed on Saturday while helping at the scene of an accident, and Ryan Welford, who was also killed. PC Prior’s death is a tragic reminder of the dedication and bravery that police officers show every single day to keep us safe. All our thoughts are with her family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.

As the Prime Minister announced last month in the “Plan for Change”, we are determined to restore neighbourhood policing and to put 13,000 additional police, police community support officers and special constables back on the beat.

[Shockat Adam]

I refer the House to my registered interests, and I echo the sentiments expressed by the Home Secretary.

Last year, the Leicestershire police panel raised serious concerns about being underfunded, having received a real-terms cut of 20% over the past 13 years. Due to this funding crisis, the police simply do not have enough manpower for night-time patrols. In the Clarendon Park area there has been a wave of burglaries in local businesses—the Christopher James Deli, Loros and Spice Bazzar are three of eight that have been smashed and grabbed over the past two months. At the local crime summit that I arranged to discuss the situation, one owner, Jaskaran Dutta, said:

“We do everything we can to survive in this incredibly difficult economic time. All we ask is that the government supports us by improving policing and security”.

What is the Secretary of State doing to address these concerns?

[Yvette Cooper]

Under the previous Conservative Government, neighbourhood policing was decimated. The proportion of people who said that they never saw the police on the beat doubled. They took police off the beat and did not put them back, which is why we are setting out a neighbourhood policing guarantee. We have increased funding for police forces by £1 billion next year, including £100 million specifically to kickstart recruitment for neighbourhood policing.