Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle mobile phone theft (a) in Beckenham and Penge constituency and (b) nationally.

Set against soaring levels of snatch thefts and pickpocketing, crimes which commonly involve the theft of mobile phones, a series of meetings have already been held, and we will shortly be holding a Home Office Mobile Phone Theft Summit, drawing together representatives from the mobile phone industry, including tech companies, the Metropolitan Police and other law enforcement agencies to see what more can collectively be done to break the business model of mobile phone thieves.

As part of our Safer Streets Mission, this government is determined to crack down on theft and other crimes that make people feel unsafe in our communities, including tackling anti-social behaviour and restoring public confidence. We are committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing and through our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, there will be thousands of additional police officers, police community support officers and Special Constables.