Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) police forces prioritising community engagement at the neighbourhood level, (b) public meetings,(c) ward walks, (d) strengthening relationships with key stakeholders and (e) deploying specialist (i) youth and (ii) other engagement teams on public confidence in the police.

The Government has committed to restoring confidence in policing, so it is vital that we rebuild the connection between the police and the communities they serve.

Research shows there is strong evidence that community engagement is important for building trust in the police and that higher visibility of local police increases public confidence, see for example the Home Office Public perceptions of policing: A review of research and literature.

That is why the Government has committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing as part of its Safer Streets Mission. We will be working with policing to introduce a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, restoring patrols to town centres, recruiting thousands of extra police officers, PCSOs and Special Constables, and providing every community with a named local officer to turn to.