Sarah Jones MP: speeches

Speeches

• 17 Nov 2025 · Neighbourhood Police Officers · Hansard source

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  I am pleased to see the progress made, and I would love to visit again, as I did with the Prime Minister in opposition, to see that progress in action. There are two aspects to where we are, and we will be making significant changes. One is through the Crime and Policing Bill, which contains new powers for us to tackle antisocial behaviour in our town centres—respect orders being just one example. Our wider police reform will also look at the entire policing landscape in a way that the Opposition completely failed to do in government. We will make it more efficient and effective and ensure that our police are targeted where the public want them in our communities.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Neighbourhood Police Officers · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this issue. It is an issue in my constituency, and I suspect in many across the country, and the scourge of fly-tipping must be tackled. Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are putting in place new statutory enforcement guidance for local authorities on what is to be expected by them in tackling antisocial behaviour. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has an ongoing review of the powers that local authorities and the police have to seize vehicles and crush them when we have prolific offenders of this awful crime.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Neighbourhood Police Officers · Hansard source

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  As part of the neighbourhood policing guarantee, we have made £200 million available to police forces this financial year to kick-start the journey towards delivering 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing personnel. By April 2026, there will be 3,000 more neighbourhood police across England and Wales, strengthening police visibility and neighbourhood policing to help to deter, prevent and respond to crime.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Neighbourhood Police Officers · Hansard source

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  I will not take any lessons from the hon. Member given the Conservative record on crime. In the last two years of their Government, shoplifting soared by 70% and street theft by 60%. The Mayor of London held a consultation, which has now concluded, and seven fewer police station counters will close. He will save £7 million through that work. It is important that we recognise the work of Sadiq Khan as Mayor of London. As we heard recently, the number of murders is the lowest since records began.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Neighbourhood Police Officers · Hansard source

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  I pay tribute to Joy Allen, who I know very well. She is a very good police and crime commissioner, and I thank her for all her work. I know that our announcement last week was difficult for police and crime commissioners to hear, but we thank them for all the work that they do and will continue to do for the next two years. What do the public want? The public want police in our neighbourhoods fighting crime. Did the Conservatives deliver that? No, they did not. Neighbourhood policing was slashed, the number of police community support officers was halved, and the Conservatives failed to tackle the fundamental problems in policing that need reform. Policing is the most unreformed part of our public services. We will make—the Home Secretary will make—the tough decisions in the coming weeks in order to put policing on the right footing for the future.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Neighbourhood Police Officers · Hansard source

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  I would be very happy to have a conversation with the hon. Lady about her experience of that. Of course, the use of illegal vapes, and their sale to under-18s, is prolific and a main source of income for serious organised criminals. I know that the Met police have carried out a huge operation recently to target not just the buyers of the goods but those who are responsible for driving that serious organised crime.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Rural Crime · Hansard source

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  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.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Rural Crime · Hansard source

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  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.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Rural Crime · Hansard source

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  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.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Rural Crime · Hansard source

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  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.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right that for many of their years in government, the Opposition wanted to look at the police funding formula, but they never did. The Home Secretary will bring forward our police reform White Paper, which will set out the context for our future funding decisions, but the allocations for this year are being looked at as we speak. I hear my hon. Friend.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady is aware of these issues, and she is aware of the complexities of policing what are sometimes very disruptive and upsetting protests. We must get the balance right, and that is what we are trying to do, but I am happy to engage in more conversations with her about this.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  That would probably take longer to answer than the amount of time I have for a topical question, but I am very happy to speak to my hon. Friend about this issue. The definition of serious disruption is not changing; the amendment deals with the circumstances in which a police force can put conditions on a protest while not banning it. I am very happy to have more conversations with my hon. Friend about this.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to raise that. We will ensure that there are more neighbourhood officers on our streets, with 3,000 more by next April, but PCSOs have a really vital role to play. I am a big fan of them, and I encourage all forces to have more of them.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  To be clear, these amendments are not about stopping marches; they are about conditions, including the length of time and the geography of them. Of course, the right to protest is one that Labour will always champion.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Nationally, we have taken 60,000 knives off the streets, knife murders are down 18%, and knife crime is down 5%, but every single offence is one too many. We will keep pushing on the policing response—as well as, crucially, the prevention response; we will work with our young people to stop them getting involved in crime in the first place.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman has referred to a challenge that the police to do with their resources. Through the White Paper and the reform programme, we are trying to ensure that our police officers can spend all their time doing the things that we want them to do—not dealing with bureaucracy, doing police staff jobs or sitting behind a counter, but fighting crime in our communities.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I am seeing Thames Valley police to discuss exactly that subject very shortly, and I will let my hon. Friend know when I am going, so that he can, perhaps, come with me. The crime strategy of the National Police Chiefs’ Council will, of course, build on the work that has already been done in Thames Valley.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I would not say that the neighbourhood policing guarantee, involving an extra £200 million, means nothing. It is a substantial amount for all our communities in England and Wales, and the allocations will be decided in the usual way this year.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady is right: there was a consultation, and seven fewer front counters will now be closed than before, and she is right that Twickenham is not one of those that will no longer close. We need to judge the police in London on their outcomes and Sadiq Khan on the work that he has done. We have the lowest number of murders since records began. Fraser Nelson, that well-known socialist, wrote just this week: “But look past the headlines…the city is winning the battle over violent crime. It’s not a bad time to be a Londoner.”

• 17 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman highlights an awful crime that was very much overlooked by the previous Government. We are changing the system, so that the £200 rule—whereby crimes would not be investigated if the goods stolen were worth less than £200—is scrapped. As my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham North and Kimberley (Alex Norris) championed in opposition, we are bringing in a new offence of assaulting a shopworker. This issue needs a really targeted response, and we know that a lot of local police are working closely with the Co-op group and others to make sure we target the prolific offenders who are responsible for a vast amount of these crimes.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Police Officers: Redditch · Hansard source

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  We are committed to delivering a stronger neighbourhood policing presence in communities across England and Wales. Every neighbourhood, including those in Redditch, now has a named, contactable officer dedicated to addressing issues facing the community. West Mercia police is using its share of the £200 million made available this financial year to grow its neighbourhood team by 51 full-time-equivalent neighbourhood officers.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Police Officers: Redditch · Hansard source

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  As my hon. Friend will know, how resources are spent is a matter for the chief constable, but the Government are clear that visible policing is essential to restoring public confidence in the police, and we have invested £30 million since we came to power in new IT systems to make it easier for the public to report crime. That is also why we are ensuring that everyone has a named, contactable neighbourhood officer that they can call on.

• 13 Nov 2025 · Police Reform · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and join him in praising Martyn Underhill and David Sidwick for their work. The police and crime commissioners have a very important function to hire and sometimes remove their chief constables. That will be passed on to the policing and crime board and the police and crime lead who will navigate day-to-day working. They will set the proposed budget, agree the policing precept and be responsible for hiring the chief.

• 13 Nov 2025 · Police Reform · Hansard source

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  I am very happy to pay tribute to Marc Jones. I have met him to talk about these issues, and there are particular challenges in Lincolnshire that we are looking at very closely. The funding settlement will be announced in the usual way before the end of the year, and we are talking very closely. I am very aware of the issues that the right hon. Gentleman raises.