Stuart Anderson MP shines spotlight on neighbourhood policing
Stuart Anderson MP has responded to new figures which reveal that police numbers have dropped by more than a thousand officers over the past year.
As of 31 March 2025, there were 1,316 fewer police officers compared to March 2024. By contrast, 147,746 officers were in post as of March 2024. This was the highest number of officers since records began in 2003.
Meanwhile, the number of new recruits has plummeted by 17 per cent. A further 1,800 police jobs are at risk due to a £118 million blackhole in the police funding settlement.
The latest Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated 9.4 million incidents of crime, including theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud, computer misuse, and violence with or without injury in the year ending March 2025.
This was 7% higher than last year, with 8.8 million incidents recorded. Shoplifting has gone up by 20%. This is the highest that the rate has been in more than two decades. Last year, the crime cost shopkeepers £2.2 billion in lost goods.
However, West Mercia is bucking the trend. The shoplifting rate has fallen by 4 per cent across Shropshire. Nonetheless, Stuart has said that government decisions are taking valuable resources away from frontline policing.
He has added that April's hike on employer's National Insurance Contributions (NICs) has meant that £230 million from the police funding settlement will only go towards covering the increase in tax. The cost is equivalent to 3,600 police officer salaries.
As Stuart reported in April, the policing settlement will not be enough to retain existing numbers - let alone meet the target to recruit 13,000 officers.
The latest figures have thrown into question the government's ability to fulfil its flagship pledges to halve knife crime and violence against women and girls.
Stuart has consistently championed the need for more equitable investment in rural policing. Earlier in July, he caught up with representatives from West Mercia Police who he is working with to keep local communities safe.
Stuart Anderson MP said: "I am very concerned about crime in rural areas like South Shropshire. So, I was pleased to catch up with representatives from West Mercia Police, who are bucking the national trend when it comes to tackling crimes like shoplifting.
"However, government decisions are taking valuable resources away from frontline policing – including in rural areas like South Shropshire. Nationally, police numbers have dropped by 1,316 officers over the past year and the number of new recruits has plummeted by 17 per cent. At the same time, a further 1,800 police jobs are at risk due to funding constraints and shoplifting has gone up by 20%.
"More investment in rural areas could make real inroads into these issues. So, I will keep pushing for a fair share of police funding in rural areas like South Shropshire."
