Stuart Anderson calls time on rural crime in South Shropshire
Stuart Anderson MP has launched a campaign to build safer communities in South Shropshire, saying that the new government must “call time on rural crime.” According to the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), rural crime cost farmers £52.8 million in 2023 - with a concerning rise in organised criminal activity on farmlands and in rural communities. In its latest rural crime report, the NFU has reported a worrying upsurge in the theft of agriculture vehicles, quad bikes, and livestock.
Rural offences have risen by 22%, with a total estimated cost of £49.5 million in insurance claims. At the same time, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has found that many police forces lack sufficient numbers of dedicated rural officers - with many reporting inadequate supplies of equipment and often being pulled into address urban issues. While has rural crime fallen by 34.6% in Shropshire over the last year, it continues to cost farmers more than £2.3 million.
Now, Stuart has said that the government should reform the national police funding formula and establish a rural uplift to recognise the extra challenges of policing rural areas. Prior to the general election, the last government had been undertaking a review of the formula to allocate police forces with their annual funding in a fairer and more transparent manner.
In his letter to Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson, Stuart also said that the government must continue with the Safer Streets Fund and expand it to include rural priorities - enabling police forces to invest in equipment such as torches and lamps, drone kits, and cameras. The last government invested over £150 million since 2020 for over 400 projects, including local crime prevention measures such as better CCTV and street-lighting.
Independent evaluations of the Safer Streets Fund show that these interventions are boosting trust in local policing, making communities feel safer, and restoring people's pride in where they live. Stuart has said it is essential that the government continues with the scheme and expands this work in order to change attitudes and behaviours to prevent the crimes from happening in the first place.
He has also urged the government to continue the fly-tipping grant scheme, which saw the last government award nearly £1.2 million to help over 30 councils tackle fly-tipping at known hot-spots, including in rural areas, such as by installing CCTV.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
“I want people everyone in South Shropshire to feel more secure in their communities and able to live their lives free from the threat of crime. We must call time on rural crime. Although down by a third in Shropshire, the continued prevalence of rural crime is very concerning. It devastates lives and livelihoods, costing farmers in Shropshire more than £2.3 million last year. The new government must ensure that the police have the funding necessary to keep communities safe. The current funding formula no longer accurately reflects demand on policing, so I have called on the government to review it and include a rural uplift to reflect the extra challenges in policing rural areas. I have also asked the government to continue with schemes to tackle the blight of fly-tipping on our countryside and invest in local crime prevention by expanding the Safer Streets Fund. This would help the Police to purchase new equipment needed to tackle rural crime.””
