Crime is a key issue for rural communities. Before the general election and the Police and Crime Commissioners election, we called on those elected to recognise that tackling crime and increasing police visibility is a priority for the rural electorate. While there is increasing awareness in the corridors of Westminster of the growing problem of rural crime, this awareness is often not felt by the communities that live and work in the countryside nor reflected in government policies.
Ahead of coming to power, the Labour Party published a rural crime strategy which put forward an approach to tackle rural crime, a growing concern for countryside communities. Rural crime was also a key strand of our Rural Charter which we published ahead of the general election. While we had similar goals in addressing the rise in rural crime, our approaches and specific commitments differed.
Labour's strategy focused on a multi-faceted approach to counter the increase in rural crime, which has surged by 32% since 2011. The strategy consisted of three primary components:
- Cross-government coordination - ensuring that the Home Office, Defra, and the National Crime Agency collaborate effectively. This unified approach is designed to create a cohesive effort in combating rural crime, ensuring that all relevant governmental bodies are working towards the same goals.
- Increased police presence - recognising the lack of police visibility in rural areas, Labour promised additional patrols to deter crime and improve response times. This increased presence is intended to restore confidence in law enforcement within rural communities.
- Tougher measures on specific crimes - stricter enforcement against equipment theft, sheep worrying, fly-tipping, and drug dealing.
The Countryside Alliance's approach to rural crime is about forming effective partnerships between the police, rural communities and other authorities to ensure that the needs of our rural communities are truly understood and that the availability of services matches those needs. The focus we gave rural crime in our Charter called for more specific reforms and strategies.
- Prioritisation of rural crime - We called for a re-evaluation of how police prioritise rural crime. Highlighting the serious and organised nature of rural criminality and its profound impact on rural communities, advocating for it to be treated with the same seriousness as urban crime.
- Building trust and encouraging reporting - There is a clear need for strategies that foster collaboration and rebuild trust between the police and rural communities. This includes encouraging more reporting of crimes, which is crucial for effective law enforcement.
- Comprehensive police response – the police must respond to every report of rural crime. This commitment aims to counter the growing perception that the police are either unable or unwilling to address rural crime effectively.
- Support for rural crime teams - fair funding for rural police forces and greater support for dedicated rural crime teams is essential for maintaining the resources and personnel necessary to tackle rural crime efficiently.
Both strategies acknowledge the alarming rise in rural crime and the pressing need for effective measures to combat it. However, our approaches differ in the following key areas.
- Coordination and enforcement - Labour's emphasis on cross-government coordination seeks to leverage the combined efforts of various agencies. The Countryside Alliance, while also recognising the need for coordination, places a stronger emphasis on overhauling police priorities and fostering community trust.
- Community engagement - The Countryside Alliance focuses heavily on rebuilding trust and encouraging crime reporting, reflecting a grassroots approach. Labour, while also concerned with community confidence, primarily emphasises increasing police presence and tougher enforcement.
- Specific crime focus - Both strategies identify similar crimes—equipment theft, livestock worrying, fly-tipping, and drug dealing—as priorities.
- Resource allocation - The Countryside Alliance explicitly calls for fair funding and support for rural crime teams, highlighting the need for financial resources to back their strategies. Labour’s strategy also implies increased resource allocation through additional patrols but does not explicitly detail funding mechanisms.
Labour's rural crime strategy and the Alliance Rural Charter both seek to address the rising issue of rural crime through comprehensive and targeted approaches. Labour focuses on coordination, increased police presence, and stricter enforcement, while the Countryside Alliance prioritises police reform, community engagement, and fair funding.
Only time will tell how much the government will implement of their rural crime strategy but the Alliance will be holding their feet to the fire. The Alliance will continue to raise the issue of rural crime in Parliament and will be seeking meetings with the key ministers in the Home Office and Defra as we are keen to work with them in tackling this blight in the countryside, highlighting the need for both strong enforcement and community-based approaches to create safer rural communities.