Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Jones and Andrew Ranger

Monday 15th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

I think the number of constituents who responded to my hon. Friend’s survey shows that this is really important for our communities and something that we have to get a grip of. There has been a worrying increase in such crimes. As part of our safer streets mission, this Government are cracking down on the crimes that make people feel unsafe in our communities, including snatch, theft, pickpocketing and robbery. Our safer streets initiative has been running this summer in town centres, including in my hon. Friend’s constituency, I think. We aim to prevent crime and antisocial behaviour, and the sale of off-road bikes is at the heart of that.

[Andrew Ranger]

In Wrexham, North Wales police is doing very important work to tackle persistent antisocial behaviour and low-level crime, but local people are, quite rightly, seeking further reassurance that these issues will continue to be dealt with and tackled head on. Will the Minister please update the House on how police recruitment and training is progressing in north Wales and beyond so that communities like mine can feel safe and secure in the place they call home?

[Sarah Jones]

As part of our commitment to restore neighbourhood policing, the neighbourhood policing programme career pathway developed by the College of Policing is creating a structured training pathway to professionalise neighbourhood policing, benefiting communities across England and Wales, including in Wrexham. In terms of recruitment, North Wales police has been allocated just over £2 million to support its projected neighbourhood policing growth over 2025-26, which is made up of 26 additional police officers and 15 police community support officers.