Community Policing: Government Support

Ayoub Khan Excerpts

Wednesday 21st October 2026 Westminster Hall

[Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley) (Ind)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Chichester (Jess Brown-Fuller) for securing this debate. Community policing is not simply about responding to crime after it happens; it is about prevention, reassurance and building trust. It is also about having officers and police community support officers who know their communities, understand local concerns and are recognised by residents, shopkeepers, schools and local organisations. When community policing works well, it prevents crime before it takes hold and helps people feel safe in the places where they live, work and shop.

The challenge facing communities across West Yorkshire is significant. Recent crime statistics show that Dewsbury continues to experience crime rates above both West Yorkshire and national averages. As of April this year, the crime rate in Dewsbury was 30% higher than Yorkshire and the Humber and 53% higher than England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with an overall crime rate reported at 125 crimes per 1,000 residents and with violent sexual offences, antisocial behaviour and public order offences being the top crimes. Batley faces similar issues. As of April this year, crime rates in Batley were 4.2% higher than Yorkshire and the Humber and 23% higher than England and Wales, with an overall figure of 114 crimes per 1,000 residents. That is why Government support for neighbourhood policing is so important.

[Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)]

Nearly 70% of police forces have more police officers now than they did in 2010, whereas in my constituency of Birmingham Perry Barr, within the West Midlands area, we have 450 fewer police officers and 500 fewer PCSOs. Does the hon. Member agree that there ought to be some parity of numbers across all police forces?

[Iqbal Mohamed]

I completely agree that the resources for law enforcement and tackling crime should be equally distributed across our nation; no constituency should be faced with a shortfall compared with others.

Community policing is one of our most effective tools to reduce crime, improve trust and strengthen community cohesion. It is particularly important in diverse towns such as Dewsbury and Batley, where relationships between local people and the police must be built on familiarity, understanding and mutual respect.

My message today is clear: Government support for community policing must be at the level required to continue to reduce crime in every constituency across our country. By investing in visible neighbourhood policing, we can make our town centres safer, support local businesses, reduce crime, tackle antisocial behaviour and restore public confidence.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sarah Jones]

We talked about this briefly in a meeting I was in earlier. We discussed what more we can do and the new technologies that can help us to follow some of these bikes and some of the individuals who are stealing them or using them in an illegal way. I am very interested in that. As the hon. Member said, there are already things being done in some parts of the country.

One big reason for our reform programme is that we have this frustration: if something is being done in some parts of the country, why is it not being done in others? We need more consistency, so that we have good practice everywhere. I want to point out the reforms we have introduced already as a Government. Some £2 billion extra has gone into policing, including to cover the cost of the national insurance rise, which was raised.

[Ayoub Khan]

Our police and crime commissioner, Simon Foster, does tremendous community engagement work. However, he cannot do much reassurance because we have a £41 million funding gap and 1,000 fewer officers than in 2010. Can the Minister tell us what extra police will be given to West Midlands, and can the Government bridge that gap?

[Sarah Jones]

I reassure the hon. Member that, over the last two years, West Midlands police has had millions more in funding than it had the year before. This Government have given West Midlands police more money year on year since we came to power.

As every Member will know, I hope, we are prioritising a number of areas. The first is serious crime and knife crime. We have seen massive improvements in the area of knife crime, particularly knife murders, since we came to power. We are prioritising neighbourhood policing, and we have 4,000-odd extra neighbourhood police in our communities, which is beginning to make a difference. We have passed the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which among other things will introduce respect orders on Monday. That is a new power for police to use to go after persistent offenders in antisocial behaviour.

We are calling time on those people. In some circumstances, we know who they are, and we all know from our constituents the trouble that we have with them. When I was in Hemel Hempstead today, the police force had a list of 30 people who they are going to put in to the courts to get a respect order on, and they are hoping to go to court on Monday—on the first day that these orders are introduced. It is a powerful tool for the police to use, which I want to see used widely.