Home Secretary visits Bucks farm as MP introduces cabinet member to rural police force

Fighting crime, keeping people safe, has always been a top political priority for me. Indeed alongside defence of the realm, it is the most important purpose of government. Already this year we have seen the superb news that Thames Valley Police now have more officers serving in the force than before the current government took office.

A key election commitment in 2019 was to recruit 20,000 extra police officers across the country. Latest figures show that 16,573 officers have now been recruited since 2019, with an additional 582 in our local Thames Valley police force. Significantly, this now brings the total number of officers in Thames Valley to 4,832, which up by 316 on the March 2010 headcount of 4,516.

From regular meetings with our local policing area commanders and other officers, I know how hard our local police are working. Just last week, I was delighted to hear about the successful apprehension of a gang of five, who have been charged with a series of burglaries and attempted burglaries in and around Worminghall over the Christmas and New Year period.

One huge step forward over the past year has been the establishment of Thames Valley’s Rural Crime Taskforce under the leadership of Inspector Stuart Hutchings. This dedicated team of officers, who specialise in all things rural, from agricultural machinery theft, to fly-tipping, to hare coursing and more, have in just one year recovered over £1.5 million in stolen machinery.

Last Saturday (25 March) I was pleased to be able to introduce Inspector Hutchings to the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, at Borough Farm in Newton Longville. Suella heard directly from the Inspector, Bucks farmers, our local NFU and our Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber what they have done to achieve this success and what other powers and resources they need for even greater success – part of which is my own private members bill on preventing equipment theft.

As the local MP for 335 square miles of rural Buckinghamshire, it was important to bring the Home Secretary to hear directly the issues we face and I will continue to work closely with all our rural communities to make sure everything possible is being done to keep everyone safe and equipment protected.