Rural Crime

The Government are increasing resources in neighbourhood policing teams and putting in place stronger measures to prevent farm theft and fly-tipping. We are working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to deliver its rural and wildlife crime strategy, which will be published imminently and will involve a joined-up approach, ensuring that we are tackling the crimes that have devastating consequences for our rural communities.

There is no doubt that my constituents are concerned by crimes such as equipment theft and wildlife crime, but they are also really worried about drug dealing taking place in broad daylight in parks, in our villages and in country lanes. Can the Minister tell us what the Government’s drug strategy is to stop our young people being targeted by organised criminals, and also to improve community policing in rural places so that those criminals do not have the confidence to target our young people so willingly?

We are putting 3,000 extra community police in our neighbourhoods by next April, and there will be a named officer that people can contact. The hon. Member is absolutely right to highlight the wider drugs problem. Since we came into power, this Government have put in place a very successful county lines programme, which is targeting the lines where people are forced, and often exploited, to take drugs across the country. I am happy to talk to her about that more. I have seen it in action for myself in Merseyside and the impact that it is having there, but she is right to highlight this very deep problem, which we are absolutely determined to tackle.

More than 2,000 wildlife crimes were recorded last year, but fewer than 50 resulted in convictions. I therefore welcome the Government’s commitment to consult on strengthening the Hunting Act 2004. Will the Minister update the House on what discussions she has had with departmental colleagues to ensure effective enforcement of any forthcoming legislation? Will the Home Office consider making key wildlife offences, including foxhunting, notifiable crimes so that these crimes are recorded and prioritised by police forces?

My hon. Friend is right to highlight those crimes and the need for us to prioritise them in a way which they were not under the previous Government. The National Police Chiefs’ Council strategy on rural and wildlife crime will set operational and organisational policing priorities for tackling those crimes, and it will be published imminently. Once it has, I would love to have a proper conversation with him.

I call the shadow Minister.

Rural crime and tool theft are out of control. A tradesman’s tools are stolen every 21 minutes, and when a farmer or tradesman has their equipment stolen, it causes complete misery and costs them severely. Their means of work are then all too often sold in broad daylight at car boot sales. Will the Government adopt our rural crime and tool theft plan to crack down on the sale of stolen goods and on the misery being caused to so many farmers and tradesmen?

The hon. Gentleman will know that we are committed to the implementation of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 and fully support its intentions. Indeed, it was brought forward by a Member of his own party—the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith). We support the Act and are working with colleagues across the policing landscape to ensure that we can do just that. But I will not take any lessons from the shadow Minister who left crime in the state that it was, had no rural crime strategy, unlike this Government, and whose record took our police away from our neighbourhoods—we will put them back.