Stuart Anderson MP is backing National Rural Crime Action Week, which is taking place between 6th and 11th September 2026.
Organised by the Countryside Alliance and the National Rural Crime Network, the annual campaign brings partners and communities together to highlight the impact of crime in the countryside and call for positive change.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
"Rural crime is a major issue; it has a devastating impact on farmers, businesses, and families. National Rural Crime Action Week, organised by the Countryside Alliance and the National Rural Crime Network, shines a vital light on the impact of rural crime and calls for positive change. I am proud to back our frontline teams and believe dedicated rural policing must remain a priority for Andy Burnham's new government. As it pushes ahead with plans to reduce the number of police forces, I will be making the case that rural communities cannot be an afterthought in these changes. We need proper resourcing to ensure people in South Shropshire feel safe and supported where they live. The Conservatives would launch dedicated rural crime taskforces across the country, ensure a dedicated share of 10,000 new police recruits goes to rural areas, and make the theft of tools and high-value farming equipment an aggravating factor in sentencing with higher fines to compensate victims for replacement and lost earnings."
Stuart has said that rural crime is a major issue in places like South Shropshire; it has a devastating impact on farmers, businesses, and families. Earlier in the year, NFU Mutual's Annual Rural Crime Report revealed that the rural crime cost £41.5 million last year, with significant increases in agricultural theft, livestock theft, and dog attacks. In the Midlands alone, rural crime cost families and businesses £6.4 million last year. As part of his campaign to improve public services in South Shropshire, Stuart regularly meets frontline teams and believes that dedicated rural policing must be a priority for Andy Burnham’s new government. He has said that specialist rural crime teams understand the unique challenges of policing the countryside, from farm theft and machinery crime to fly-tipping and livestock worrying. They build the relationships and local knowledge needed to prevent crime and bring offenders to justice.
Stuart is backing the Conservatives' Plan to call time on rural crime, which would launch dedicated rural crime taskforces in communities across the country and ensure a dedicated share of 10,000 new police recruits goes to rural areas. The Conservatives would also make the theft of tools and high-value farming equipment an aggravating factor in sentencing with higher fines to compensate victims for replacement and lost earnings.
This year’s campaign will focus on ensuring that rural policing remains at the heart of the government’s police reform agenda. It comes as the government ploughs ahead with controversial reforms that will see the number of police forces reduced. Stuart shares concerns that so-called ‘mega-forces’ covering whole regions will be very remote from the communities they serve. In turn, this risks risks drawing resources away from villages and towns in South Shropshire towards large cities. Stuart has said that rural communities cannot be an afterthought in these changes and is calling for proper resourcing so that people in South Shropshire feel safe and supported where they live.
