4. Mr Butler asked the Minister of Justice to outline any measures that her Department is taking to improve policing resources in Lagan Valley to address rural crime. (AQO 1918/22-27)

The allocation of policing resources in Lagan Valley is entirely a matter for the Chief Constable, who is accountable to the Northern Ireland Policing Board.?I hope that Mr O'Toole is listening, because he missed this earlier. I am committed to respecting the operational responsibility of the Chief Constable and the role of the Policing Board. The Member may therefore wish to direct his question to the PSNI.

I am, however, pleased to advise that a business case has been submitted to the Department of Finance to recover workforce levels to 7,000 officers and 2,572 staff over the next three years, which will potentially benefit all constituencies. That case is under active consideration by the Department of Finance.

Notwithstanding that, a partnership approach is central to addressing all crime, and my Department is committed to working with partners to make Northern Ireland, including rural communities, safer by reducing opportunities to commit crime. My Department chairs the rural crime partnership (RCP), which focuses on developing a collaborative, problem-solving approach to addressing concerns specific to rural areas. The partnership shares information on emerging and/or recurring crimes to support a coordinated response and preventative approach to addressing agricultural crime.

At a local level, policing and community safety partnerships (PCSPs) jointly funded by my Department and the Policing Board play a key role in addressing crime, including rural crime, and building confidence locally through engagement and consultation with communities. PCSPs deliver a range of initiatives, such as trailer marking, to raise awareness and support rural communities and businesses to protect their property and goods. I also welcome the downward trend in recorded rural and agricultural crime in recent years, although I note that that tells only one part of a bigger story.

I thank the Minister for her answer. I will not take the ball that wants to be hit there and go full Father Ted, because it is an important topic. Since I tabled the question, there have been a number of break-ins and burglaries in Lagan Valley in and around Hillsborough. I also know that it is a seasonal occurrence. Can the Minister outline any increased involvement that she or the police have had on the rural impact assessment, and will she comment on the fact that, as the days get longer and people take to their caravans in the spring and summer, thieves and burglars see that as an opportunity to exploit empty houses?

The Member is correct that, when people know that a house is empty, there is an increased tendency for burglary. We see similar patterns before Christmas, when people know that people are storing Christmas presents. It is an opportunistic way of breaking into homes at that time. Through PCSPs and the police, there are lots of opportunities for householders to get advice and guidance on how to secure their properties and how to avoid them looking empty for long periods and, hopefully, to dissuade those who are involved in crime.

Burglary and robbery represented about 24% of agricultural crime, not just rural crime, while theft was about 76%. That gives you some idea. Burglary has been between 23% and 36% of rural crime, while theft has tended to make up the rest in that context. It is clearly something that we are concerned about and want to raise public awareness of. I encourage Members to use some of the tools that are available on the Department's website, in local PCSPs and on the PSNI's website about how to secure your property over the summer period, particularly when you are on holiday, so that it does not look as though it is available for criminals who might wish to target it in your absence.

Last week, Yvette Cooper announced police vetting reforms to boost officer standards and improve confidence in policing around issues of misconduct and sexual offences, for example. Is the Minister minded to look at the vetting procedures here?

It is not directly linked to rural crime, but I welcome the opportunity to be clear about it. A number of areas need to be looked at. The ombudsman's office is looking at abuse of power as a theme. You will be aware from the Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland report of the work that has already been done in that space.

There is vetting of those who join the PSNI, and that is one element. There is also internal vetting as people move between different roles and into particular roles where they may come into contact with more vulnerable people. Whilst it does not necessarily fall to the Department to take a lead on that, we are engaging on it with the police, the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI) and the board.

It is important that people have confidence that, when they call a police officer, the person who responds is there in good faith and is a person of integrity and that they are not exposing themselves further to somebody who may have malign intent.

Can the Minister provide more detail on the work of local PCSPs in addressing rural crime?

The Department, together with the Northern Ireland Policing Board, provides operational funding of about £4·25 million to PCSPs. They play a key role in our operational response to identify and help to address local community safety concerns, including rural crime.

In the action plan this year, Lisburn and Castlereagh PCSP outlined key initiatives to help to tackle rural crime, including the promotion of farm watch schemes, trailer marking events and a tracker device scheme. Mid Ulster PCSP has committed to raising awareness of rural crime in its annual action plan, while running a text alert programme. Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon PCSP also promotes farm watch schemes and organises trailer marking events, as well as providing SelectaDNA kits and signage.

There is genuinely an opportunity, where Members have concerns, such as those that were raised by Mr Butler, and where they see particular patterns from their contact in constituencies, to raise those with the PCSP and to discuss them with the local police. If those patterns can be identified, it can be helpful for them in targeting their resources effectively.