Questions & Answers
Q1
Partial Answer
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Context
Antisocial behaviour in Tyrley, a small village in Leigh Ingham's constituency, has had a significant impact on the community. Small rural communities often feel overlooked and struggle to have their voices heard when it comes to policing and public safety.
Antisocial behaviour in Tyrley, a small village in my constituency, has had a significant impact on the community. Small rural communities like these often feel overlooked and struggle to have their voices heard when it comes to policing and public safety. Will the Government ensure that rural communities, such as Tyrley, receive the named police officer guarantee, so that they have a dedicated point of contact for policing and for support?
Yes, my hon. Friend raises an important point about those small parts of larger rural communities and how they can feel that our neighbourhood policing guarantee will provide them with reassurance. There is the named officer guarantee, and it is worth recognising the use of things such as WhatsApp groups in big rural areas, where intelligence can be fed into the police.
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Assessment & feedback
The answer did not explicitly commit to ensuring that Tyrley or similar communities receive the named police officer guarantee.
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
Policing in rural areas is increasingly complex, but rural constabularies receive much less funding than inner-city ones. The current funding formula was introduced by the previous Government.
Policing in rural areas is increasingly complex, but rural constabularies receive much less funding than inner-city ones. I know the Minister will jump on this opportunity to complain about the last Government, but will she at least take a moment to commit to publishing the methodology behind the funding formula and open a conversation about fairer funding for rural police forces?
I am going to say that the funding formula was introduced by the previous Government—I think in 2011. They had two goes at trying to update it, and they did not do anything about it. We have been in government for seven months now, and this is what we have inherited. In a lot of areas, we have inherited things that we would not necessarily have wanted to have inherited. As I have said before to the House, we will be looking at police reform going forward, and part of that conversation will be around financial issues.
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Assessment & feedback
The answer did not explicitly commit to publishing the methodology behind the funding formula or initiating discussions on fairer funding for rural police forces.
Response accuracy