Priti Patel: £25 million investment to make streets safer

The government is allocating a further £25 million to local projects through the safer streets fund aimed at increasing the safety of public spaces for all with a particular focus on tackling violence against women and girls.

Created with the objective of tackling local acquisitive crimes like car theft and burglary, the latest round of the Safer Streets Fund is focused on making public places safer for all, with an emphasis on the safety of women and girls.

Crimes which take place in public places such as sexual harassment disproportionately affect women, which is why this latest investment largely focus on making spaces safer for women and girls.  

Recipients of funding have submitted bids for innovative plans to increase the safety of public spaces or projects which will focus on changing the behaviour of perpetrators.

Since its inception, the Government has committed £70 million to the Safer Streets Fund to support local areas across England and Wales to introduce initiatives aimed at stopping offences happening in the first place. 

Round two saw 50 projects across England and Wales awarded a total of £18.4 million to go towards measures proven to cut crime, including simple changes to the design of streets such as locked gates around alleyways, increased street-lighting and the installation of CCTV.  

Safer Streets is just one of the ways The Government is working to tackle violence against women and girls. 

In August we published the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which commits to radically changing how we stop violence and abuse using a whole system approach.   The strategy was informed by the over 180,000 people who shared their experiences of harassment abuse and violence online.

We have also funded a new police lead, Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, to set the policing strategy for tackling violence against violence towards women and girls across England and Wales. 

Priti Patel, Home Secretary said:

“We have made good progress in tackling violence against women and girls, but these crimes are still all too prevalent in our society.

“That is why earlier this year we launched the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, informed by the largest ever public survey of women and girls on this issue. As part of this, the £25 Safer Streets Fund will invest in crime prevention initiatives across the country where women and girls say they feel most unsafe. 

“The tragic cases of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman touched us all. As we Build Back Safer from the pandemic, tackling violence against women and girls is my priority.”

ENDS

For further information, please contact Harry Methley on +44 7954 783 402

Notes to Editors

• While the Prime Minister was Mayor of London, he ensured our capital became the first major city in the world to launch a comprehensive plan to tackle violence against women and girls. Key success include an improved understanding of the nature and extent of VAWG in London and of the solutions, policies and services required to address this, a shift towards a more preventative approach, improved access to support and improvements to the police response.^[1]

• Under this Government, cross-Government funding for action to tackle violence against women and girls has more than trebled in relation to any other two-year period. This includes victim support, programmes to tackle perpetrators and refuges.^[2]

• The United Kingdom’s second female Prime Minister, Theresa May MP, led internationally renowned work to tackle violence against women and girls. This included new offences for controlling and coercive behaviour, stalking, female genital mutilation and so-called 'revenge porn'. This year, the landmark Domestic Abuse Act passed. It will improve the response to domestic abuse on every level, strengthening protection for victims whilst also ensuring perpetrators feel the full force of the law.^[3]

• Labour voted against measures such as tougher sentences for child murderers and greater protections for emergency workers. By voting against the PCSC Bill, Labour are opposing: tougher sentences for child murderers, tougher sentences for sex offenders, measures to crack down on violent crime, protecting emergency workers from assault, and delivering better protection for victims.[4]

[1] The Way Forward, Mayor of London, March 2010, link.

[2] Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, HM Government, 21 July 2021, link.

[3] Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, HM Government, 21 July 2021, link.

[4] Hansard, 5 July 2021, Division 44, link.