Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh and Atherton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of consolidating the specific grant for the Police Uplift Programme into the core policing grant.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The 2026-27 provisional police funding settlement (18 December) published that total funding to Territorial Police Forces will be up to £18.3 billion, an increase of up to £746 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement. This equates to a 4.2% cash increase and a 2.0% real terms increase for the policing system. On 16th January, forces received a letter inviting views on the delivery of Neighbourhood Policing model.
The Government has listened to policing’s concerns about the Officer Maintenance Grant and its requirement to achieve a specified officer headcount target. This funding mechanism has in some instances led to forces placing more officers in back-office roles which is not helpful in supporting visible policing and prevents forces from building a workforce with the mix of skills necessary to tackle crime.
The Government’s position is that people want to see neighbourhood police on the streets. We recognise the need to improve trust and confidence in policing – strengthening neighbourhood policing is a way of achieving that goal.
Final force level funding allocations for 2026-27 will be published at a Final Police Funding Settlement by the end of January.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has issued guidance to the Metropolitan Police on the circumstances in which conditions that effectively prevent a protest from taking place may be imposed under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 in the last 12 months.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 allow the police to impose conditions on public processions and public assemblies as necessary to prevent serious public disorder, serious damage to property, or serious disruption to the life of the community.
Any conditions that are necessary can be placed on the public procession or public assembly, including the location or route, time and date, or prohibiting individuals entering any public space specified. These powers do not allow police to ban protests or prevent protests from taking place.
Decisions on how to police demonstrations are an operational matter for the police, working within the legal framework of the Public Order Act 1986. In making these considerations, the police must always balance decisions with the right to peaceful protest.
The College of Policing is responsible for providing guidance and operational advice for frontline policing. The College of Policing produces the Public Order Public Safety authorised professional practice. Alongside this, the Protest Operational Advice Document is published jointly by the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support police forces in tackling shoplifting and retail crime.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Police recorded crime figures recorded 529,994 shoplifting offences for year ending June 2025. This represents a 13% increase from the previous year.
Charges for shop theft rose by 25% (up to 107,090 charges). That is why we’re committed to restoring visible, responsive neighbourhood policing with 3,000 additional officers in neighbourhood policing roles by spring next year.
In the Crime and Policing Bill, we are bringing a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores and we are removing the legislation which makes shop theft of and below £200 a summary-only offence, sending a clear message that any level of shop theft is illegal and will be taken seriously.
The Home Office has regular discussions with the police and other partners on protecting retail workers and tackling shop theft.
We are also providing over £7 million over the next three years to support the police and retailers tackle retail crime, including continuing to fund a specialist policing team – in partnership with the retail sector - to better understand the tactics used by organised retail crime gangs and identify more offenders.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what process of commercial bidding in IT systems will be required to tender within the new national police service.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Any commercial bidding for IT systems for the National Police Service will follow standard Government procurement processes governed by the Procurement Act 2023.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2025 to Question 98794 on Mission Boards, who the internal and external members are of the Safer Streets Mission Board.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Safer Streets Delivery Board hasn’t explicitly been mentioned before as far as we are aware. DG Public Safety Group’s role leading the Safer Streets Mission at an official level is well publicised however. In an FOI in August 2025 there is reference to various teams working on the Safer Streets Mission but it doesn’t go as far as saying there is this Delivery Board.
However the existence of the Delivery Board isn’t contentious and helps us answer this question in the spirit in which it is intended.
The Safer Streets Mission Board is chaired by the Home Secretary. Ministers from relevant government departments are invited to attend meetings based on specific discussion topics, as are external experts where necessary.
The Mission Board is supported by a monthly Safer Streets Delivery Board, which brings officials from government departments together to drive delivery and outcomes under the Safer Streets Mission. The Delivery Board is chaired by the Director General for the Public Safety Group in the Home Office and is attended by senior officials from relevant government departments.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her planned timetable is for completing the reorganisation of police forces in England and Wales.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government published its Police Reform White Paper on 26 January 2026. It set out an ambitious package of reform, including an ambition to move to fewer, larger forces by the end of next parliament.
We will shortly launch an Independent Review of Police Force Structures, which will make recommendations on the optimum configuration of fewer, larger forces, and the timetable for implementation. The Review is expected to report its findings in summer.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to ensure that coastal and rural areas are effectively supported by centralised police forces.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police Reform White Paper, published on 26 January 2026, set out an ambitious package of reform, including an ambition to significantly reduce the number of police forces across England and Wales by the end of next Parliament.
We will shortly launch an Independent Review of Police Force Structures, which will make recommendations on the optimum number and configuration of forces. This will consider a wide range of evidence in making its recommendations by Summer.
These larger forces will be comprised of Local Policing Areas, with policing teams focused exclusively on local policing issues, ensuring that every community is served by visible and responsible neighbourhood officers. We will also establish Local Policing Guarantees that will set out the minimum levels of service the public should expect to receive from their police force, regardless of where they live.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provision for the police.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The 2026–27 final police funding settlement provides up to £21.0 billion for the policing system in England and Wales.
This is an increase of up to £1.3 billion compared with the 2025–26 settlement, representing a 6.7% cash increase and a 4.4% real terms increase. Total funding to police forces will be up to £18.4 billion, an increase of up to £796 million compared to the 2025-26 police funding settlement. This equates to a 4.5% cash increase and a 2.3% real terms increase in funding.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled ‘White paper sets out reforms to policing’ published on 26 January 2026, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing the number of police forces in England and Wales on (a) local accountability and (b) community policing.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Police Reform White Paper, published on 26 January 2026, set out our ambition to significantly reduce the number of police forces across England and Wales by the end of next Parliament.
We will shortly launch an Independent Review of Police Force structures, which will make recommendations on the optimum number and configuration of forces. The review will consider a wide range of evidence and engage extensively with policing and community stakeholders in making its recommendations.
The White Paper announced that we will require larger forces to be comprised of Local Policing Areas, with policing teams focused exclusively on local policing issues, ensuring that every community is served by visible and responsible neighbourhood officers. The Independent Review will make recommendations on the size and composition of Local Policing Areas as well as examine how governance arrangements will operate in the new model.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the rollout of facial recognition technology on levels of crime in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
No assessment has been made for the impact of the rollout of facial recognition technology on crime levels specifically within Surrey Heath constituency.
However, a national evaluation is in progress to understand the impact of police use of facial recognition in the prevention and investigation of crime and the impacts on public trust and confidence. Once complete, its findings and a final report associated with it are intended for future publication.