Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to expand provision of police in semi-rural and rural areas.

This Government is introducing the most radical and comprehensive policing reforms in nearly 200 years. This will support it to tackle cross-border crimes like wildlife crime and organised equipment theft, while also restoring neighbourhood policing.

The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee means that every neighbourhood, including in rural areas, already has named, and contactable officers, dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour locally.

Every rural area will also be covered by a Local Policing Area under a commander responsible for emergency response, local crime investigation and neighbourhood policing. They will be set targets to ensure they answer 90% of 999 calls within 10 seconds and attend 90% of the most serious incidents within 20 minutes in rural areas.