The Government are committed to introducing neighbourhood policing to every part of England and Wales by April 2007. By April 2008, every community will have its own neighbourhood policing team.
Neighbourhood policing is about local policing teams being genuinely visible and responsive to people, and dealing effectively with the crime and antisocial behaviour that concerns them. A key part of neighbourhood policing is that everyone will know their local policing team, and be able to contact them easily by telephone or by email. The Government are supporting the roll-out of neighbourhood policing, not only through general police grant, but also through specific funding around police community support officers (PCSOs). This will total around £222 million this year and includes an additional £91 million announced in the Budget to accelerate numbers of PCSOs to 16,000 by April 2007 (around 11,500 outside London). This will increase the pace of the roll-out of neighbourhood policing overall.