Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle rural crime (a) in Cumbria and (b) across England.

Our manifesto committed us to use police resources to tackle rural crime. As well as recruiting 20,000 additional police officers, we are also taking steps to address issues that we know affect rural communities. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act empowers and equips the police and courts with the powers they need to combat hare coursing. The Government is also providing funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit. As at 31 March 2022, Cumbria Police has recruited 117 additional uplift officers against a combined year 1 and 2 allocation of 101 officers. The force has been allocated 68 additional uplift officers in the final year of Uplift. The deployment of these officers is an operational decision for Chief Constables.