Following today’s announcement that the Conservatives would recruit 8000 more neighbourhood police officers if they are returned to Government, Theresa Villiers said:

“I have successfully argued for bigger budgets for policing and more officers. I secured a promise from the Conservative Government of 20,000 additional police. That has been delivered, meaning the Met now have more uniformed officers than ever before.”

“We need our fair share of them in Barnet. If I am re-elected I will keep up the pressure on Mayor Khan to give us more bobbies for Barnet. The head of the Met, Sir Mark Rowley has already said our local ward teams will be bigger. I will push for that to happen.”

“Today the Conservatives are going a step further. Our plan for government will include recruiting 8000 new full-time police officers as part of a new Neighbourhood Policing Uplift Programme. This will mean an additional police officer for every ward in England.”

“People expect to see police on the streets where they live. Our 8,000 extra officers will have full powers of arrest and will be focused solely on policing their local beat, cutting crime, and helping people feel safer.”

“These officers will work as part of existing ward teams. Police forces will not be allowed to offset these additional resources by diverting police officers already dedicated to neighbourhood duties to other roles.”

The announcement by the Conservatives today also includes extending the Government’s hotspot policing programme to more areas, cracking down on antisocial behaviour and violence that can blight communities. This will ensure that an additional 3 to 4.5 million hours of patrolling can take place in hundreds of hotspots. Antisocial behaviour is down by nearly 50 percent in some areas where these tactics have already been deployed.

Theresa Villiers is Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Chipping Barnet and served this area as MP up until the dissolution of Parliament in May.