Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2025 to Question 38911 on Clothing: Public Places, whether she plans to take steps to help support residents who are scared to leave their homes due to people wearing balaclavas in town centres in Hertfordshire.

This Government wants town centres to be vibrant, welcoming places where businesses thrive and people feel safe and come to shop, socialise and live. What the Hon Member describes about town centres in Hertfordshire is absolutely unacceptable.

As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, and to support making the country’s streets safer, £66.3 million of Hotspot Action funding has been awarded to all 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales for 2025/26. Hertfordshire will receive £1 million of that funding.

In addition, under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, section 60AA permits officers on patrol to require the removal of face coverings over a 24 hour period, if an authorisation is in place, where there are grounds to believe criminal activity may take place in a particular area, and will last for 24 hours.

Furthermore, stop and search powers permit individuals to be stopped by officers if there are grounds to suspect they are going to commit offences, such as robbery and theft.

The implementation of a new Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee is also key to people feeling safe in their communities. The guarantee includes restoring patrols to town centres and delivering an additional 13,000 neighbourhood policing officers, PCSOs and special constables by the end of this parliament.