Stuart Anderson MP has welcomed an extra £60 million investment in crime prevention measures such as better CCTV or street lighting, or community projects with a particular focus on driving down anti-social behaviour, preventing more burglaries, and making streets safer for women and girls. The West Midlands Police will be receiving £1.4 million from the fifth round of the Safer Streets Fund, which will run for 18-months across 2023/24 and 2024/25. Since 2020, the West Midlands - including the City of Wolverhampton - has received just over £2.9 million through the Fund for projects targeting neighbourhood crime, violence against women and girls, and anti-social behaviour. The latest funding is the biggest, single pot to date from the Government’s Safer Streets Fund and will be directly awarded to police and crime commissioners to determine the particular projects they want to support in their areas. This means that there will be no need to bid competitively for the money, freeing them up to focus on listening to local concerns and delivering the projects.
16 police force areas, including the West Midlands, are also launching either ‘hotspot’ policing initiatives or ‘immediate justice’ schemes. In the West Midlands, the hotspot policing initiative will see an increase in the number of police patrols in areas with the highest rates of anti-social behaviour - with resource focused on locations where incidents are more frequent such as public transport or parks. This will help to step up enforcement action and better deter crimes from being committed in the first place, so that people feel safer in their communities. The trial areas are being funded as part of the Government’s 'Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan', which was launched in March. The initiatives are due to be rolled out in all areas of England and Wales from 2024.
The launch of the schemes are the next step in the Government’s ongoing work to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, as set out in the Prime Minister’s 'Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan' to make sure these issues are treated with the urgency they deserve by giving the police and local authorities the tools they need to tackle the problem - building stronger communities and a better future for people across the country. The Government has also delivered on its manifesto commitment to recruit 20,000 extra police officers, with more across England and Wales than ever before. 20,951 additional officers have been recruited by forces across England and Wales, taking the number of police officers to its highest ever level, 149,572 officers.
Stuart Anderson MP said: “Anti-social behaviour prevents people from spending time in their local area, makes women and girls feel unsafe, and erodes a sense of community. It is unacceptable and that's why I welcome the launch of the hotspot policing scheme in the West Midlands. The scheme will deliver more enforcement patrols in areas with the highest rates of anti-social behaviour, while the £1.4 million investment from the Safer Streets Fund will deliver more crime prevention measures and community projects. I want to see this new funding invested in measures that make our streets safer for all and look forward to seeing its positive impact.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “Everyone should have the right to feel safe on their streets, confident that perpetrators will pay the price of their crimes. That’s why tackling antisocial behaviour is a core part of my pledge to build a better future for people all across this country. My plan to stamp it out will make sure those responsible for damaging their communities will be swiftly and visibly held to account – so that people know this issue will be treated with the urgency it deserves.”