Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) financial and (b) other steps her Department is taking to help prevent rural crime in (i) Selby and Ainsty constituency, (ii) North Yorkshire, and (iii) England.

The Government are committed to driving down rural crime. Whether someone lives in the countryside, a town, or a city, they should have the same peace of mind when going about their daily lives, and they should get the same high-quality service from the police if they fall victim to a crime.

While it is for Chief Constables to decide how to allocate their resources, up to £193.4 million funding is available for policing in North Yorkshire, an increase of up to £8.1m when compared to 2022/23. Overall police funding available to PCCs will increase by up to £550.2 million this year. As at the end of March 2023, there were a record 149,500 police officers in England and Wales, 1,669 of whom were in North Yorkshire.

In addition to the funding for forces, the Government has provided £287,037 for the National Wildlife Crime Unit and £200,000 for the new National Rural Crime Unit. This will support all forces in their response to rural crimes such as theft of farming construction machinery, livestock theft and rural fly tipping. Funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit is in addition to funding provided on a long-term basis for the National Rural Crime Unit.

The Government has also acted to address specific points of concern raised by stakeholders in relation to rural crime and it supported the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023. The Act aims to prevent the theft of all-terrain vehicles such as quad bikes, by requiring immobilisers and forensic markings to be fitted as standard to all new all-terrain vehicles.