Funding worth £1million to address anti-social behaviour, neighbourhood crime and violence against women and girls has been secured for Warwickshire by Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe and county partners.
It comes from the latest round of the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund, with the Police and Crime Commissioner’s application being approved in full. For the first time, each police force area is receiving an equal share of national funding, meaning Warwickshire’s latest award is almost double that of the two previous allocations.
Since 2021, the Safer Streets Fund has helped deliver a range of improvements across the county, including new CCTV cameras, lighting improvements, removal or management of vegetation and installation of physical barriers at public spaces, all of which were identified by the public as areas they felt unsafe in.
The latest incoming funding will allow District and Borough Councils across the county to work with Warwickshire County Council and Warwickshire Police to deliver three new projects. These focus on safety improvements to public spaces and CCTV systems, community crime prevention and safety awareness events as well as additional training for police and partner agency staff on tackling violence against women and girls in the night-time economy.
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe said: “On behalf of all of the partners involved, I am delighted to have been able to secure Warwickshire’s share of the national Safer Streets funding in full, meaning an additional £1 million can be spent locally on projects to improve public spaces that people have reported feeling unsafe in.
“Over the course of the next 16 months, there will be a host of new activity being undertaken to help combat neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour and tackling violence against women and girls. Working with the local communities in the areas concerned, we want to ensure that each project is as effective as possible at reducing the problems residents have told us about. The end result should be that people have confidence to enjoy these public spaces in safety and that crime and anti-social behaviour is deterred.”
Cllr Andy Crump, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety at Warwickshire County Council, said: “The allocation from central government means we are able to work with local communities to understand their safety needs and provide realistic and preventative measures to ensure community safety concerns are met. I am excited to see the many improvements to each of the areas throughout the county and I’m sure residents will be just as pleased with the finished results.”
The first of the funded projects focuses on CCTV improvements in each District and Borough, including new or improved camera locations and increased staffing for camera control rooms in North Warwickshire and Stratford upon Avon.
The second project is set to target hot spot areas for anti-social behaviour and violence, providing reassurance to those using these areas, with locations in Leamington, Nuneaton and Rugby set to benefit.
Among other interventions, the third project will see a range of community events established in areas with higher rates of neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour and issues of violence against women and girls, where crime prevention advice will be provided and follow up interventions will be put in place based on community feedback.
All of the projects will be delivered between now and March 2025.
