Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what action is being taken to help improve the availability of domestic abuse services in rural areas.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, 'Freedom from Violence and Abuse’, we committed to developing a new cross-government statement on the commissioning of VAWG services. This will update the National Statement of Expectation, refresh the VAWG Commissioning Toolkit, and will improve the quality of commissioning. For England, the Safe Accommodation Duty for victims of domestic abuse, and the upcoming Duty to Collaborate for victims of domestic abuse, sexual violence, and serious violence, will ensure local areas are able to tailor their provision to their local community and duty holders should consider the needs of rural victims as part of this.
This financial year (2025/26) the Home Office has invested £6m into specialist helplines to support victims in their greatest time of need. The VAWG Helplines are established to be accessible wherever you are across England and Wales. They provide advice and support to victims and assist in signposting and referrals to appropriate local services.
Last year, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) commenced a call for evidence across a network of rural stakeholders to inform understanding of the availability of support services and delivery methodologies that might be effective in rural areas. Defra will work to understand the findings of this evidence to help to confront the disparities in the provision of support so that every victim, whether in a city or a rural village, can access the help they need.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase levels of deportation of foreign national offenders.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are committed to delivering justice for victims and safer streets for our communities. Foreign nationals who commit crime should be in no doubt that the law will be enforced and, where appropriate, we will pursue their deportation.
Between this Government coming to power and January 2026, over 8700 foreign national offenders (FNOs) have been returned either voluntarily or by enforced means. This is a 32% increase on the number of FNOs returned in the same period 19 months prior. Figures on deportations, which are a subset of enforced returns, are not separately available.
To further support the returns of those with no right to remain in the UK the Government is committed to reforming the appeals process by creating a new appeals body with professionally trained adjudicators. We will also strengthen the certification regime to deny appeal rights for clearly unmeritorious claims. Furthermore, the number of countries that foreign national offenders can be deported to before they can lodge an appeal from abroad has also been increased.
We are also working to reform Human Rights claims. In these areas we will rebalance the public interest test for Article 8 claims and work with our international partners to reform the application of the ECHR’s prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress she has made on the delivery of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee in South Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee set out commitments for police forces to implement, by July 2025, and by the end of Parliament. Forces are now delivering on the Guarantee across England and Wales to ensure consistent and high-quality neighbourhood policing, including in South Shropshire.
West Mercia Police now have named, contactable neighbourhood officers, dedicated to addressing local issues. The force guarantees a 72-hour response to neighbourhood queries, provides regular engagement opportunities including beat meetings, maintains up to date online information on neighbourhood policing teams, and has a designated anti-social behaviour lead. These measures ensure a consistent, visible and responsive neighbourhood policing across the area.
Based on their £3,108,283 allocation from the Neighbourhood Policing Grant, West Mercia Police are projected to grow by 51 FTE NHP officers in 2025-26. As at 30 September 2025, West Mercia Police have grown by 36 (FTE) Neighbourhood Policing officers.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to promote police visibility in rural areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee has named, contactable officers dedicated to addressing local issues in every neighbourhood, including rural areas.
Forces are ensuring neighbourhood policing teams spend the majority of their time within the areas they serve, delivering visible patrols across communities and engaging directly with residents and businesses.
In addition, forces are increasing targeted patrols in local hotspots, based on demand and intelligence, to provide enhanced visibility and reassurance. This is supported by the commitment to deliver 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel by the end of this Parliament, strengthening visible policing across England and Wales, including rural areas.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what action her Department is taking to tackle anti-social behaviour in rural towns and villages in South Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour is a top priority for this Government.
Under the Government's Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, we are putting neighbourhood officers back into communities and restoring public confidence by bringing back community-led, visible policing. West Mercia Police will receive £3,108,283 as part of the funding settlement for 2025-26.
In addition, the Home Office is providing £66.3 million funding in 2025-26 to all 43 forces in England and Wales to deliver high visibility patrols in the areas worst affected by knife crime, serious violence and anti-social behaviour. As part of the Hotspot Action Fund, West Mercia Police will be in receipt of £1,000,000.
The Winter of Action which commenced on the 1 December 2025 and will run to 31 January 2026, is currently underway, focusing on making town centres safer across England and Wales. This initiative builds on the Safer Streets Summer Initiative, continuing efforts to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, while also addressing retail crime and night-time economy offences, particularly during darker evenings when risks to public safety increase. West Mercia have listed 14 areas, and Shropshire have listed 3 areas as part of the Winter of Action.
Through our Crime and Policing Bill, we are making our streets and neighbourhoods safer by strengthening the powers available to the police and other agencies to tackle anti-social behaviour. This includes introducing new Respect Orders to give local agencies stronger enforcement capability to tackle the most persistent adult anti-social behaviour offenders, and powers for the police to seize nuisance off-road bikes, and other vehicles which are being used in an anti-social manner, without having to first give a warning to the offender.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding is available from her Department for local crime prevention measures in rural areas.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Rural crime can have devastating consequences for countryside communities and the agricultural sector.
We are improving the protections for rural communities, with tougher measures to clamp down on equipment theft, anti-social behaviour, strengthened neighbourhood policing and stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping.
This financial year the Home Office has provided the first Government funding since 2023 for the National Rural Crime Unit (£365,000) as well as continuing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (£450,000). The National Rural Crime Unit work with police forces and rural communities to promote the use of crime prevention measures such as Rural Watch.
We have also worked closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to deliver their updated Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy for 2025-2028. The strategy highlights how policing can assist in the prevention of crime in rural areas.
It is the responsibility of Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), including Mayors who exercise PCC or equivalent functions, to take decisions around the allocation of their funding and resources.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what action is being taken to increase scam awareness in rural communities.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Whilst it is vital we continue to target the criminals behind fraud and make it harder for them to operate, we want to increase awareness across all communities to help people.
We are working with City of London Police (CoLP) to support their coordination of the Fraud Protect Network. The network is made up of local, regional and national law enforcement officers and is designed to reduce the threat of fraud and revictimisation by providing consistent protect messaging and safeguarding advice to the public, including those in rural communities.
Additionally, the Government has continued to fund the national ‘Stop! Think Fraud’ awareness campaign to equip the public with useful protective behaviours against fraud. The campaign, and supporting website, make it easier for the public to recognise fraud and take steps to protect themselves, their family and friends.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increases in the cost of shotgun licences on funding for youth activities.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 5 February 2025, increased fees came into effect to provide full-cost recovery for firearms licensing applications processed by police forces. This was the first increase in fees for 10 years and we intend to undertake more regular reviews in the future.
The need to increase firearms licensing fees to help address shortcomings in firearms licensing was highlighted by the Senior Coroner in his Preventing Future Deaths reports into the fatal shootings in Plymouth in August 2021.
It is important that the additional revenue from firearms licensing fees is used to support improvements in police force firearms licensing teams, and my predecessor, Dame Diana Johnson MP, wrote to all Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to make clear that the increased fees must be used for this purpose.
Whilst the Government’s manifesto commitment referred to the money raised by full cost recovery fees being used to support youth interventions to prevent serious violence, it was decided instead ahead of the February 2025 increase to fees, that firearms fees income must be retained by police forces to support improvements in police firearms licensing.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the ability of police forces to implement the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee set out commitments for police forces to implement by July 2025. Forces are now delivering on the Guarantee across England and Wales to ensure consistent and high-quality neighbourhood policing. Every neighbourhood now has named, contactable officers.
Additionally, the Government has made £200 million available in FY 25/26 to support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of this Parliament, including up to 3000 additional neighbourhood officers by March 2026
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - South Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the number of police forces.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to addressing the strategic challenges policing faces. We specifically recognise the problems around fragmentation and resultant inefficiencies across the 43 police forces, which many police system leaders have highlighted.
The policing system must be equipped to serve the public effectively and to make efficient use of its funding and resources. This is why the Home Office will publish a White Paper on police reform later this year. It will include a comprehensive package of reforms to policing in England and Wales that will drive quality, consistency and efficiency.