Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help support Merseyside Police to tackle organised crime gangs.

The impact of Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) is felt on our streets and in our communities. The Home Office is committed to ensuring that the police have the capabilities they need to tackle this significant threat.

Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) continue to diversify their tactics and activity, supported by a rise in the use of technology and online platforms. Home Office funding to the NCA has enabled capacity building to tackle the threat from SOC including the supply of illicit drugs. This includes the Merseyside Organised Crime Partnership - a joint NCA and policing unit to tackle the highest harm OCGs involved in drugs and firearms trafficking in the region.

This collaboration has significantly impacted the threat in Merseyside with a notable reduction in firearms discharges, and community safety perceptions have significantly improved, particularly in wake of the tragic gang related murder of 9-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel.

Since 2022, Merseyside Police have also been delivering Clear, Hold, Build (CHB) a dedicated programme designed to tackle SOC treats and harms, which is now operating across three sites in the force area, receiving additional Home Office funding following the murder of Olivia and several other innocent members of the community by OCGs. CHB aims to reduce the SOC threat and crime levels in high-harm local areas and build sustained community resilience which prevents this harm returning.