Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department plans to take to help improve police response times in rural areas.

Chief Constables are responsible for determining the allocation of resources for operational policing and managing their response times, in line with the priorities set out by their Police and Crime Commissioner.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services regularly inspects forces’ response to the public as a part of its Police Efficiency, Effectiveness and Legitimacy inspections. As a part of this, it examines whether forces provide an appropriate response to incidents.

The Government also recognises that there can be challenges in responding to rural crime more broadly. That is why we are working closely with the National police Chiefs’ Council to deliver its updated Rural and Wildlife Crime strategy. The strategy will set out operational and organisational policing priorities in respect of tackling crimes that predominantly affect rural communities.

We have been clear that the Home Office will play a greater role in setting performance measures and monitoring and driving system performance in the police. Further details on the new performance framework will be set out in due course