Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Rural Crime

Monday 24 February 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Leigh Ingham raised concerns about antisocial behaviour impacting the community of Tyrley in Stafford.
  • The Minister acknowledged the importance of ensuring small rural communities feel reassured by the neighbourhood policing guarantee.
  • Patrick Spencer questioned the funding disparity between rural and inner-city constabularies, calling for the publication of the funding methodology.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Leigh Ingham Lab Stafford
Crime & Law Enforcement Community Security
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.

Question

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?

Answer from The Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention (Dame Diana Johnson)

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.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not explicitly commit to ensuring that Tyrley or similar communities receive the named police officer guarantee.

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Q2 Patrick Spencer Con Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
Policing & Resources
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.

Question

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?

Answer from The Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention (Dame Diana Johnson)

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.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The answer did not explicitly commit to publishing the methodology behind the funding formula or initiating discussions on fairer funding for rural police forces.

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