Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers have been recruited in Wiltshire since 2019; and what steps she has taken to reduce crime in (a) rural areas and (b) Wiltshire.

We are recruiting an additional 20,000 police officers in England and Wales by March 2023, the biggest recruitment drive in decades.

As at 31 March 2022, Wiltshire Police had a total headcount of 1,152 police officers. 261 new officers have been recruited in total in Wiltshire since November 2019, equating to 111 additional officers, after replacing officers who retire or leave the force.

We are also taking steps to address issues that we know affect rural communities, including Wiltshire. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act empowers and equips the police and courts with the powers they need to combat hare coursing. The Government is also providing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit.