Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help prevent bicycle theft in Twickenham constituency.

The central aim of our police reforms is to protect and revitalise neighbourhood policing. We are lifting national responsibilities from local forces so they can focus on tackling issues of key concern to communities, such as dealing with bike theft. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will ensure that every community in England and Wales will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues, and that neighbourhood teams spend the majority of their time in their communities providing visible patrols and engaging with local communities and businesses.

In addition, we are also providing the police with new powers to support their response. The Crime and Policing Bill, now at Committee Stage in the House of Lords, will ensure that Officers can enter and search premises where stolen items – such as GPS-tracked bicycles – are reasonably believed to have been stolen and located, and where it is not reasonably practicable to obtain a court warrant. This will significantly enhance the ability of the police to act swiftly and effectively in recovering stolen property.