Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of neighbourhood policing levels in Portsmouth South constituency.

Improving visibility of policing in a targeted way should be a priority for all forces. That is why the Home Secretary and I wrote to all Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners in August 2023, asking them to set out their plans to increase visibility and confidence in local policing and report on their progress in this area by March 2024.

It remains vital that neighbourhood policing is tailored around the needs of local communities. Decisions about the deployment of officers, including in neighbourhood policing roles, are for operationally independent Chief Constables, as they are best placed to use their local knowledge and experience to best serve the public interest.

Police and Crime Commissioners are responsible for setting strategic policing objectives and for holding Chief Constables to account for their running of the force to ensure the public receives the high-quality policing they are entitled to expect.

The Home Office does not hold constituency level data regarding officer numbers. However, as at 31 March 2023, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary has the highest number of officers in local policing roles (which includes neighbourhood policing roles) since comparable data began (March 2015), at 1,596 full-time equivalent (FTE) officers. This represents a 5.4% increase compared to the previous year.