Stuart Anderson MP has welcomed extra funding from the Government’s Safer Streets Fund. The latest round of funding delivers £50 million for communities across England and Wales to take forward important evidence-based and innovative crime prevention initiatives. It includes £365,667 for the City of Wolverhampton and £458,545 for the West Midlands Police. Stuart has championed the funding, which will enable them to crack down on anti-social behaviour and to better prevent violence against women and girls. It can be used to deliver extra CCTV and streetlighting, as well as community outreach initiatives designed to change behaviours and to prevent crimes from being committed in the first place.
In his submission to the Spending Review last year, Stuart had called for the Safer Streets Fund to be expanded so that it could address more priorities such as anti-social behaviour. He was delighted when it was announced that £150 million would be invested over the next three years to continue and expand programmes that prevent crime and keep our communities safe, including the Safer Streets Fund. The latest round has included anti-social behaviour (ASB) as a primary focus for the first time. Stuart has now welcomed this latest round of funding, which will help to improve security in areas that have been badly affected by crime, tackling violence against women and girls as well as anti-social behaviour.
As part of his Safer Neighbourhoods Project, Stuart has also supported a range of initiatives to keep our streets safe and better prevent crimes from taking place. Earlier in the year, Stuart endorsed plans to boost police funding by £1.1 billion this year – taking the total funding for 2022-23 up to £16.9 billion. He has now welcomed the news that 13,790 new officers have been recruited as part of the national drive to hire 20,000 new officers by 2023, with an extra £540 million committed to complete this recruitment. It includes 1,218 new officers for the West Midlands Police as part of the uplift programme.
Stuart Anderson MP said: “Crime is a top priority for our area, so I am delighted that the Government has dedicated even more funding to making our streets safer for everyone in our city. The latest round of funding will help to empower our communities to take forward innovative plans that reduce crime, with a particular focus on tackling violence against women and girls and anti-social behaviour. Alongside our pledge to get more police on the streets, with almost 14,000 recruited, this investment will deliver on our priorities to cut crime and ensure that people feel more secure in their communities.”
