Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve public access to police officers in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.

Decisions regarding the police estate, including the availability of front counters at police stations, are a matter for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, or equivalents. They are best placed to make these decisions based on their knowledge of local need and their experience.

A key part of the Government’s Safer Streets Mission is focused on restoring neighbourhood policing, and rebuilding trust and confidence in policing. As such, all forces including Staffordshire, now have named and contactable neighbourhood officers dedicated to addressing the issues that matter most to their communities. We have also provided £200 million in FY 2025/26 to support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales by the end of the Parliament. This increase in neighbourhood policing, alongside the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, will strengthen the connections between the police and the communities they serve.