Karin Smyth, MP for Bristol South, is backing Labour’s call for action to tackle anti-social behaviour, as new analysis from the Labour Party shows a staggering 1.2 million incidents of nuisance are recorded in England and Wales every year – equating to over 20,000 incidents every single week.
In England and Wales, the percentage of people who say they never see a police officer has doubled since the Conservatives came to power from 25% in 2010/11 to 48% in 2019/20. Meanwhile, the proportion of people agreeing that the local crime and ASB issues that matter are being dealt with has fallen from 61% in 2012 to just 52% in 2020.
Labour believes that there has been a serious and growing failure under the UK Tory Government to use antisocial behaviour powers to keep communities in Bristol South safe, despite being in charge for 12 years, but Labour has a plan.
This includes new Police Hubs in crime and antisocial behaviour hotspots across the country to get the police back into the community, Neighbourhood Prevention Teams to bring together police, local councils and youth services to tackle the issue at the root, a major recruitment drive to increase the number of special constabularies and giving victims of persistent antisocial behaviour the same entitlements as other victims of crime, including access to support services.
Karin Smyth, MP for Bristol South, said:
“Over a decade of Tory Governments has seen crime go up and persecutions go down. We have seen a rise in antisocial behaviour, but with fewer officers on the streets the Tory Government don’t seem interested in taking any meaningful action to tackle it.
“Labour would stand up for communities in Bristol South by establishing Police Hubs where the police, council, and youth services will work together to tackle antisocial behaviour at its root cause, and give a voice to victims.
“The Government could pay for this by halting plans for a Royal Yacht; a vanity project will be paid for by the taxpayer but bring them no benefits whatsoever. We need to focus our efforts and funds on making sure people feel safe in their homes and communities. It’s what the public deserves.”