Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the (a) time, (b) money and (c) other resources spent on policing (i) fox hunting and (ii) related crimes in each of the last five years.

The enforcement of the Hunting Act is an operational matter for the police. This is in line with their duties to keep the peace, protect communities and prevent the commission of offences, working within the provisions of the legal framework set by Parliament.

It is for individual Chief Constables to determine how their resources are deployed, and it is for locally elected PCCs to hold their forces to account. This includes consideration of how the police tackle the crimes that matter most to residents and businesses in rural and urban areas alike. The investigation and prosecution of all criminal offences, including consideration of whether an actual offence has been committed, is a matter for the police and Crown Prosecution Service who have comprehensive powers to take action under criminal law.