Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press notice entitled £200 million boost to transform neighbourhood policing, published on 31 January 2025, for what reason it is her policy to recruit 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers.

Neighbourhood policing is the bedrock of the British policing model. Every community deserves visible, pro-active and accessible neighbourhood policing with officers tackling the issues that matter to them.

Neighbourhood policing has been decimated in recent years. The proportion of people who said that they never saw the police on the beat in their community doubled from 2010 to the year ending March 2024.

We have provided £200 million in FY 25/26 to support the first steps of delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood personnel. This major investment supports the commitment to make the country’s streets safer and reflects the scale of the challenges that many forces face and the Government’s determination to address them.