Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of organised crime in (a) Bournemouth East constituency and (b) the South West.

The Home Office is committed to ensuring that the police have the resources they need and that is why I have recently approved, on an exceptional basis, Dorset’s application for £600,000 of additional funding to support the force with the costs of exceptional policing demand arising in Bournemouth.

Ultimately, it is for Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), and Mayors with PCC functions to make operational decisions based on their local knowledge and experience. This includes how to allocate resources to reduce levels of organised crime.

Chief Constables, PCCs and Mayors with PCC functions have provided significant resource to the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) network by allocating 725 extra officers to ROCUs between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023. Those officers are tackling the range of Serious and Organised Crime threats, helping to reduce crime and keep communities safe.

Dorset Police used the Police Uplift Programme to grow their officer capacity. As part of that programme Dorset was set a target to recruit 166 new officers. As of April 2023, 174 new recruits joined Dorset over the last 3 years.

Investment in policing is paying off and delivering results. Violent Crime, as measured by the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), has fallen 52% in the year ending June 2023 compared with the year ending March 2010.