Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase the visibility of police (a) across the country and (b) in the rural villages of the Mid Bedfordshire constituency.

Improving visibility of policing in a targeted way should be a priority for all forces. That is why the former Home Secretary and I wrote to all Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners in August 2023, asking them to set out their plans to increase visibility and confidence in local policing and share the results of this by March 2024.

Policing is operationally independent of government and decisions about the deployment and activities of officers, including in neighbourhood policing roles, are for operationally independent Chief Constables. They are best placed to use their local knowledge and experience to serve local needs.

Police and Crime Commissioners are responsible for setting strategic policing objectives and for holding Chief Constables to account for their running of the force to ensure the public receives the high-quality policing they are entitled to expect.