The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Suella Braverman)
With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about
the antisocial behaviour action plan, which I published today with
my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities. I am proud of what Conservatives have
achieved since 2010: overall crime, excluding fraud, is down by
50%; neighbourhood crime is down by 48%; and we are within days of
securing the...Request free trial
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ()
With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement
about the antisocial behaviour action plan, which I published
today with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for
Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
I am proud of what Conservatives have achieved since 2010:
overall crime, excluding fraud, is down by 50%; neighbourhood
crime is down by 48%; and we are within days of securing the
historic achievement of a record number of police officers
nationally. That is all thanks to this party’s commitment to law
and order.
But we must always strive harder to keep the British people safe.
The worst crimes flourish when lower-level crime is tolerated.
Let me be clear: there is no such thing as petty crime. Public
First polling found that people cited antisocial behaviour as the
main reason why their area was a worse place to live than 10
years before. The decent, hard-working, law-abiding majority are
sick and tired of antisocial behaviour destroying their
communities. Nobody should have to live in fear of their
neighbours, endure disorder and drug taking in parks, see their
streets disfigured by graffiti, fly tipping or litter, or feel
unsafe walking alone at night, with gangs of youths hanging
around, getting up to no good, intimidating us all and degrading
the places that we love.
Personal experience of antisocial behaviour is highest in the
police force areas of the north-east, the midlands and the
south-east. In Derbyshire, Northumbria and Durham, at least 45%
of adults have experienced antisocial behaviour. As one of the
research participants from our polling in Liverpool reported,
anti-social behaviour
“makes you feel unwelcome, like you’re not wanted or loved, like
you don’t feel you belong. It does affect your emotional
wellbeing. You don’t feel safe…you don’t know what is going to
happen next. I’ve felt like this for the three years that I’ve
lived here, and I’ve been planning on leaving for the past
year.”
Such sentiments are why my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister
has made tackling antisocial behaviour a top priority for this
Government.
Our antisocial behaviour action plan will give police and crime
commissioners, local authorities and other agencies the tools to
stamp out antisocial behaviour across England and Wales. It
targets the callous and careless few whose actions ruin the
public spaces and amenities on which the law-abiding majority
depend. Our plan outlines a radical new approach to tackling
antisocial behaviour, and it is split across four key areas.
First, there is stronger punishment for perpetrators. We are
cracking down on illegal drugs, making offenders repair the
damage that they cause, increasing financial penalties, and
evicting antisocial tenants. The Opposition cannot seem to make
up their mind on whether they want to legalise drugs. While the
Leader of the Opposition and the Mayor of London argue about
cannabis decriminalisation, we are getting on with delivering for
the public.
Drugs are harmful to health, wellbeing and security. They
devastate lives. That is why I have taken the decision to ban
nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, which is currently the
third most used drug for adults and 16 to 24-year-olds. By doing
so, this Government will put an end to hordes of youths loitering
in parks and littering them with empty canisters. Furthermore,
under our new plan, the police will be able to drug-test
suspected criminals in police custody for a wider range of drugs,
including ecstasy and methamphetamine. They will test offenders
linked to crimes such as violence against women and girls,
serious violence and antisocial behaviour.
We will ensure that the consequences for those committing
antisocial behaviour are toughened up. Our immediate justice
pilots will deliver swift, visible punishment for all those
involved. Offenders will undertake manual reparative work that
makes good the damage suffered by victims. Communities will be
consulted on the type of work undertaken, and that work should
start swiftly—ideally within 48 hours of a notice from the
police. Whether it is cleaning up graffiti, picking up litter or
washing police cars while wearing high-vis jumpsuits or vests,
those caught behaving antisocially will feel the full force of
the law.
The upper limits of on-the-spot fines will be increased to £1,000
for fly-tipping and £500 for litter and graffiti. We will support
councils to hand out more fines to offenders, with councils
keeping the fines to reinvest in clean-up and enforcement.
Nobody should have to endure persistent anti-social behaviour
from their neighbours. That is why we plan to halve the delay
between a private landlord serving notice for antisocial
behaviour and eviction. We will also broaden the harmful
activities that can lead to eviction and make sure that
antisocial offenders are deprioritised for social housing.
Secondly, we are making communities safer by increasing police
presence in antisocial behaviour hotspots and replacing the
outdated Vagrancy Act 1824. The evidence is compelling: hotspot
policing, which is where uniformed police spend regular time in
problem areas, reduces crime. That is why we are funding an
increased police presence focused on antisocial behaviour in
targeted hotspots where it is most prevalent. Initially, we will
support pilots in 10 trailblazer areas, before rolling out
hotspot enforcement across all forces in England and Wales in
2024.
We will also replace the 19th-century Vagrancy Act, which
criminalised the destitute, with tools to direct vulnerable
individuals towards appropriate support, such as accommodation,
mental health or substance misuse services. We will criminalise
organised begging, which is often facilitated by criminal gangs
to obtain cash for illicit activity. We will prohibit begging
where it causes blight or public nuisance, such as by a cashpoint
or in a shop doorway, or directly approaching someone in the
street.
Rough sleeping can cause distress to other members of the
community, for example by obstructing the entrance of a local
business or leaving behind debris and tents. We will give police
and local authorities the tools they have asked for to deal with
such situations, while ensuring those who are genuinely homeless
are directed towards appropriate help. We will build local pride
in place by giving councils stronger tools to revitalise
communities, bring more empty high street shops back into use and
restore local parks.
Thirdly, there is prevention and intervention. Around 80% of
prolific adult offenders begin committing crimes as children. We
are funding 1 million more hours of provision for young people in
antisocial behaviour hotspots and expanding eligibility for the
Turnaround programme, which will support 17,000 children on the
cusp of the criminal justice system. Our £500 million national
youth guarantee also means that, by 2025, every young person will
have access to regular clubs, activities and opportunities to
volunteer.
Fourthly, we will improve accountability to the public. A new
digital tool will mean that members of the public have a simple
and clear way to report antisocial behaviour and receive updates
on their case. We are also launching a targeted consultation on
community safety partnerships, with the aim of making them more
accountable and more effective.
This Government are on the side of the law-abiding majority. We
will take the fight to the antisocial minority. This Government
have set out a clear plan and a clear set of measures to do just
that: more police, less crime, safer streets and common-sense
policing. I commend this statement to the House.
4.07pm
(Normanton, Pontefract and
Castleford) (Lab)
This plan is too weak, too little, too late. The Home Secretary
says people are sick and tired of antisocial behaviour. Too right
they are—because people have seen serious problems getting worse
and nothing has been done. But who does she think has been in
power for the last 13 years?
It is a Tory Government who have decimated neighbourhood
policing. There are 10,000 fewer neighbourhood police and police
community support officers on our streets today than there were
seven years ago. Half the population rarely ever see the police
on the beat, and that proportion has doubled since 2010. This is
a Conservative Government who weakened antisocial behaviour
powers 10 years ago, brought in new powers that were so useless
they were barely even used, including the community trigger and
getting rid of powers of arrest, even though they were warned not
to.
The Government abandoned the major drug intervention program that
the last Labour Government had in place, slashed youth service
budgets—the YMCA says by £1 billion—and have let charges for
criminal damage halve. Community penalties have halved and there
is a backlog of millions of hours of community payback schemes
not completed because the Government cannot even run the existing
system properly. Far from punishing perpetrators of antisocial
behaviour, the Government are letting more and more of them
off.
As a result, criminal damage affecting our town centres is up by
30% in the last year alone. It is a total disgrace that too many
people, especially women, feel they cannot even go into their own
town centres any more because this Government have failed them.
They do not see the police on the beat and they do not feel
safe.
So what are the Government proposing now? We support some of the
measures, largely because we have long called for them. We called
for hotspot policing; we called for faster community payback. We
support stronger powers of arrest and a ban on nitrous oxide. But
let us look at the gaps. There is nothing for antisocial
behaviour victims, who are still excluded from the victims code
and the draft victims law. On the failing community trigger, all
the Government are going to do is rename and relaunch it. They
are re-announcing plans on youth support that the Levelling Up
Secretary announced more than a year ago. I notice one new thing
in the document: an additional 500 young people will get
one-to-one support. Well, there were 1.1 million incidents of
antisocial behaviour last year, so good luck with that.
The Government are not introducing neighbour respect orders.
Astonishingly, neighbourhood policing is not mentioned even once
in the document. How on earth do the Government think they will
tackle antisocial behaviour without bringing back neighbourhood
policing teams? Their recent recruitment—to try to reverse their
own cuts of 20,000 police officers—is not going into
neighbourhood policing. There are 10,000 fewer neighbourhood
police officers and PCSOs in our teams than there were seven
years ago. Labour has set out a plan for 13,000 more
neighbourhood police on the streets, paid for by savings that
have been identified by the Police Foundation but which Ministers
are refusing to make. Will the Home Secretary now agree to back
Labour’s plans to get neighbourhood police back on the beat to
start taking action?
Hotspot policing is not the same as neighbourhood policing. We
support hotspot policing to target key areas, but that is not the
same as having neighbourhood teams who are there all the time,
embedded in the community, and know what is going wrong and why.
There are plenty of things that are already crimes—that are
already illegal—on which the police already have the powers to
act but do not. No one comes because there are not enough
neighbourhood police.
Will the Home Secretary apologise to people across the country
for her cuts of 10,000 neighbourhood police and PCSOs, and for
taking the police off the streets, meaning that people do not see
them any more? If she does not realise that having fewer police
in those neighbourhood teams is causing huge damage and
undermining confidence, she just does not get it. Really, after
13 years, is this the best the Conservatives can come up
with?
The more I listen to the right hon. Lady, the more confused I am
about what Labour’s policy is. She criticises our plan while
claiming that we have stolen Labour’s, so I am not sure which it
is. In the light of the embarrassing efforts of the shadow
Policing Minister, the hon. Member for Croydon Central (), to explain her own policy on
television last week, I am not sure that any Labour Members
really know what their antisocial behaviour policy is. Let me
tell the House one big difference between the right hon. Lady’s
plan and ours: unlike her, we call tell the public how much ours
will cost and how we will pay for it—a big question that Labour
is yet to answer.
The shadow Home Secretary talks about policing cuts. Never mind
that we are recruiting 20,000 extra police officers—the highest
number in history. Never mind that we have increased frontline
policing, which leads to more visible and effective local
policing. Never mind that by the end of this month, we are on
course to have more officers nationally than we had in 2010 or in
any year when Labour was in government.
The shadow Home Secretary wants to talk about safer streets.
Well, let us compare our records. Since 2019, this Conservative
Government have removed 90,000 knives and weapons from our
streets. Since 2010, violence is down 38%, neighbourhood crime is
down 48%, burglary is down 56%, and overall crime, excluding
fraud, is down 50%. What does Labour’s record show? That where
Labour leads, crime follows. [Interruption.] I know it hurts, but
it is true. Under Labour police and crime commissioners,
residents are almost twice as likely to be victims of robbery,
and knife crime is over 44% higher. In London, Labour’s wants to legalise cannabis. In
the west midlands, a Labour PCC wants to close police stations.
Labour opposed plans to expand stop and search. Labour Members
voted against tougher sentences for serious criminals. They voted
against the increased powers for police in our Police, Crime,
Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. So we should not be surprised
that, while this Conservative Government are working to get
violent criminals off our streets, Labour is campaigning to
release them. The Leader of the Opposition and some 70-odd Labour
MPs signed letters—they love signing letters—to stop dangerous
foreign criminals from being kicked out of Britain. One of those
criminals went on to kill another man in the UK, and we learned
this week that many others went on to commit further appalling
crimes in the UK. Shameful! Outrageous! Labour Members should
hang their heads in shame!
The truth about Labour is that they care more about the rights of
criminals than about the rights of the law abiding majority. They
are soft on crime and soft on the causes of crime. The
Conservatives are the party of law and order. Our track record
shows it, and the public know it.
(North West Hampshire) (Con)
As the Home Secretary pointed out, crime is now at half the level
it was when Labour told us that there was no money left in the
coffers to continue the fight. I congratulate her on bending her
elbow and putting so much effort into driving the number down
even further. I particularly commend her on the publication of
the plan today, which builds on the focus on antisocial behaviour
that we published in the beating crime plan not so long ago.
May I urge my right hon. and learned Friend to examine carefully
the routes of supply of nitrous oxide? We need to avoid a
situation in which the substance moves from the legitimate market
into the illegitimate market and becomes another hook for drug
dealers to draw young people into their awful trade. How can she
restrict supply to those who genuinely need it without it
necessarily becoming an illicit substance that drug dealers use
for their business?
Let me put on the record my admiration for and gratitude to my
right hon. Friend for all he has achieved and led—not just when
he was at the Home Office but before that, when he worked for
City Hall on the frontline of policing and crime fighting. He
talked about our plans to ban nitrous oxide. We are clear: there
needs to be an exception for legitimate use. It is used in a vast
array of circumstances that are lawful, commercial and proper,
and those will not be criminalised.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I call the SNP spokesperson.
(Glasgow Central)
(SNP)
Most of this statement does not apply in Scotland because,
thankfully, justice is devolved. The Scottish Government take a
public health approach to criminality—the violence reduction
unit’s approach, which has been emulated by the UK Government. I
gently suggest that criminalising young people in this way will
not help—[Interruption.] If the antisocial behaviour from the
Government Benches could stop, that would be helpful.
The independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs recently
concluded that the evidence shows that the health and social
harms of nitrous oxide were not commensurate with a ban. Why has
the Home Secretary overruled her advisers? The Misuse of Drugs
Act has completely failed to prevent people from taking heroin,
cocaine and cannabis. Why does the Home Secretary believe that it
will stop people from taking nitrous oxide?
The overall legislative framework on illicit drugs continues to
strike a balance between controlling harmful substances and
enabling appropriate access to those drugs for legitimate
medicinal research and, in exceptional cases, for industrial
purposes. But with respect, I am not going to take any lectures
from someone from the SNP, which has overseen in Scotland a total
collapse of confidence in policing and, more devastatingly, a
record high in Europe when it comes to the number of drug-related
deaths.
(Torbay) (Con)
There is a lot to welcome in this statement, particularly some of
the ways in which increased police resources are being used; we
are seeing that in Torquay town centre, with the launch of
Operation Loki. I also very much welcome the reform of the wholly
outdated Vagrancy Act—a useless tool against organised gangs that
in theory also criminalises the most destitute. Could my right
hon. and learned Friend outline how traders and residents in
places such as Torquay and Paignton town centres will see the
difference the plan is making and hold the local force to
account?
There is a wide range of measures in this plan, and we are going
to consult on many of them, but one example is where we want to
potentially streamline the availability of public spaces
protection orders, so that the police can access those really
important orders more quickly and efficiently and take action to
prohibit nuisance and antisocial behaviour in local areas.
Sir (Rhondda) (Lab)
My local police tell me that in the Rhondda, which is a very
low-crime area in general, the single biggest issue that we face
is domestic violence: we probably have higher figures in the
Rhondda than for three other neighbouring constituencies added
together. I hope the Home Secretary will forgive me if I am not
very impressed by what she is announcing today, because I want to
see the police really focusing on what might save lives.
In particular, can she look into the role that brain injury
plays? In poorer communities, there is lots of evidence to
suggest that nearly two thirds of those going into prison these
days—both women and men—are people who have suffered significant
brain injuries that have not been diagnosed or treated before
they come into the criminal justice system. Sometimes that leads
to them truanting, falling out of school and coming into the
criminal justice system. Is it not important that we base
everything we do on evidence, rather than sloganising?
I think this is highly evidence-led, because we are focusing
heavily on restorative justice, prevention and diversion, whether
that is through hotspot policing, the investment in youth
facilities, or the diversion of people who engage in drug-using
behaviour on to treatment facilities. That is about prevention,
rather than cure.
(Chelmsford) (Con)
I put on record my thanks to the Prime Minister for taking time
to speak with constituents impacted by antisocial behaviour when
he came to Essex Boys and Girls Clubs in Chelmsford this morning.
The hotspot policing will make a huge impact, but can I also
particularly thank the Home Secretary for the youth guarantee,
making sure that every young person will have access to clubs,
activities or other opportunities?
I very much enjoyed meeting officers from Essex Police in
Chelmsford today, in my right hon. Friend’s constituency, with
the Prime Minister. She has a lot to be proud of locally—the
police team there are fantastic—and she is absolutely right to
talk about the investment in youth services. As part of our
national youth guarantee, we are investing over £500 million to
provide high-quality local youth services so that by 2025, every
young person will have access to regular clubs, activities and
adventures away from home, and opportunities to volunteer.
(Orkney and Shetland)
(LD)
I wonder if the Home Secretary sees the inconsistency between
saying in one breath that there is no such thing as petty crime,
and then in the next one boasting that crime has fallen, but only
if we exclude fraud from the figures.
May I bring the Home Secretary’s attention, though, to the
question relating to homelessness? Of course, it is welcome that
we are going to be directing vulnerable individuals towards
appropriate support, such as accommodation, mental health or
substance misuse services. Can she tell the House, however, why
it is that something as basic as that is not already the case,
and what she thinks these vulnerable people will find when they
get to the point of accessing those services?
The right hon. Gentleman talks about fraud. The data collection
only changed to start counting fraud over the past 10 years,
which is why we refer to the fall in crime in the way that we do.
Fraud is obviously a big feature of modern-day crime, and that is
why the Government, led by the Home Office and the Security
Minister, are setting out a fraud strategy, which we will be
announcing very soon.
(Ashfield) (Con)
I think it is laughable that the Labour party has come into the
Chamber today talking about being the party of law and order—an
absolute scandal. The Home Secretary will be aware of a
deportation flight to Jamaica just a couple of years back, taking
some of the most vile criminals on board back to their homeland.
After Labour campaigned to stop it, two went on to commit
terrible crimes: a murder, and attacking two women. Does the Home
Secretary think that now is a good time for Opposition Front
Benchers to apologise to this House and to the country?
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
Order. I think it is important that Members ask about the
statement and the Home Secretary’s responsibilities. She is not
responsible for the Opposition.
My hon. Friend raises a very good point, because his question
highlights the gross failure of the Labour party. Labour Members
are much more interested in letter writing campaigns to stop the
Home Office deporting serious foreign national offenders. They
are much more interested in the rights of criminals, rather than
the rights and entitlements of the law-abiding majority. I agree
that they should apologise for their devastating actions.
(North Tyneside) (Lab)
Any plan for dealing with antisocial behaviour must include
support for victims of antisocial behaviour. While police and
crime commissioners, such as in Northumbria, are working
hard to tackle antisocial behaviour, they are prevented from
running dedicated victim support programmes, as there is no
Government funding. When will the Home Secretary provide this
important funding, so that victims of antisocial behaviour can
have some help?
I am pleased to say that Northumbria is going to be one of the
pilot forces, both for hotspot patrolling and immediate justice.
Specified funding will be rolled out across the year to those 10
police forces in each pilot to ensure that the measures and
resources are there so that we can increase the response to
antisocial behaviour.
(Erewash) (Con)
Antisocial behaviour in our towns is a major concern for many
people living and working across Erewash, so I welcome the new
zero-tolerance approach and the fact that Derbyshire will be a
trailblazer area. Can my right hon. and learned Friend assure me
not only that Erewash police and Erewash Borough Council will
receive their share of the new funding, but that persistent
offenders will be swiftly prosecuted using the full force of the
law?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that Derbyshire is also a
pilot force for hotspot patrolling and immediate justice. When it
comes to hotspot policing, which we know works in many parts of
the country, that will mean that the police will be expected to
identify places and times where antisocial behaviour is
prevalent, and they will be able to use this extra funding to lay
on additional policing, greater visibility and a more robust
response.
(Manchester, Withington)
(Lab)
All the experts, including those on the Advisory Council on the
Misuse of Drugs, say that banning nitrous oxide will cause more
harm than good. The Home Secretary has just said that her policy
is evidence led. Can she point to the evidence that suggests her
policy on nitrous oxide is right?
I am grateful to the ACMD for its detailed report and its advice.
Its input is an essential part of our decision-making. We have
complete faith in the quality and rigour of its work. However,
the Government are entitled and expected to take a broader view,
and we are entitled to take into account other relevant factors,
particularly the emerging evidence that nitrous oxide causes
serious harm to health and wellbeing.
(Wyre Forest) (Con)
May I congratulate my right hon. and learned Friend on her
incredibly sensible decision to ban the recreational use of
nitrous oxide? As we heard a little earlier, one reason its use
has been so prolific is that it is so extraordinarily easy to
purchase, from small canisters up to pallet loads. Can I urge her
to do everything she can to continue to stifle the supply and to
clamp down as hard as she possibly can on those who continue to
sell this dangerous product for recreational purposes?
I thank my hon. Friend for the great campaign he has led, which
is reflected in the decision we have made today to ban nitrous
oxide. He has spoken passionately about the devastating impact it
is having not just on individuals, but on communities. He is
right that we now need to take this robust approach. We need not
only to curb the supply but, importantly, to criminalise
possession, so that there is a deterrent and a meaningful
consequence for people who break the law by using nitrous
oxide.
(Carmarthen East and
Dinefwr) (Ind)
The website article supporting this statement mentions that up to
£5 million will be made available for CCTV and equipment
restoration in vandalised parks. Is that £5 million the total
budget, because the restoration of Ammanford children’s park in
my constituency, which was recently vandalised, and the
installation of CCTV will cost £140,000 alone? Will county
councils and town and community councils in Wales be able to
access this scheme, and if so, how?
We want to ensure that sufficient resource is available to local
authorities and police forces so that they can take meaningful
steps to sanction those involved in antisocial behaviour—whether
through the community payback scheme, in which we see the
perpetrators undertaking the clean-up job afterwards, or through
the higher fines that we have announced—and we want to enable
local authorities to retain much of the revenue so that they can
reinvest it in their resources.
(Ipswich) (Con)
What I have heard consistently throughout the time I have been a
Member of Parliament is that long-term residents who love their
town no longer feel comfortable going into the town centre. Often
they see groups of young men behaving in a way that diminishes
the quality of that experience for the law-abiding majority. Does
the Home Secretary agree that we need a permanently higher police
presence in the town centre, but also that the police need to be
much more confident about engaging earlier with these groups of
men blighting our town centre?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are seeing far too many
instances of bad behaviour, dangerous behaviour and unacceptable
behaviour going unchecked—whether that is violent or disruptive
behaviour or a plain nuisance. We need to ensure that visible
policing becomes a fact of life, so that people are deterred from
engaging in this behaviour in the first place, but also that we
have a system of immediate justice so there is a swift sanction
and people feel the full force of the law.
(York Central)
(Lab/Co-op)
Only after my right hon. Friend the Member for Normanton,
Pontefract and Castleford () published her comprehensive
strategy on antisocial behaviour has the Home Secretary been
shamed into cobbling together today’s statement, but that
statement does not mention the word “alcohol”. Alcohol is at the
source of much domestic violence, community violence and city
centre antisocial behaviour, so how is she going to get on top of
the growth in alcohol-based violence?
I gently remind the hon. Member that her party has royally failed
to properly cost its so-called plan on antisocial behaviour, as
evidenced by the shadow Policing Minister’s failure to explain
how it would be paid for. Once it gets the basics right, we can
have a proper conversation about what Labour’s proposal is. On
taking the action that we are proposing, we are delivering £12
million of additional funding this year to police and crime
commissioners to support an increased police presence alongside
other uniformed authority figures such as wardens in problem
areas for antisocial behaviour. Raising the visibility and
increasing the resourcing of policing will be an effective way to
deter and take the right action.
(Chatham and Aylesford)
(Con)
Over the past year, residents across Chatham and Aylesford have
suffered repetitive instances of antisocial behaviour involving
noise nuisance from cars and bikes and unauthorised access to
private lakes by large groups of children. The local councils
have had to go through lengthy processes to establish public
spaces protection orders to tackle these issues, which have left
residents at their wits’ end while the bureaucracy slowly cranks
away. Can the Home Secretary confirm that the announcement today
will make it a lot simpler for the authorities to clamp down on
this type of antisocial behaviour, so that it can be dealt with
there and then, rather than waiting for months for consultations
and paperwork to be completed?
I thank my hon. Friend for all the work that she and her local
team and councillors have led in challenging and stopping
antisocial behaviour locally. She is absolutely right; what we
have identified is that it has become onerous, inefficient and
too time-consuming to secure these really effective orders, and
this is exactly what the consultation will do. It will aim to
streamline and speed up the acquisition of a PSPO, which can
really make the difference between an area blighted by antisocial
behaviour and an area that is free, safe and pleasant to
frequent.
(Wakefield)
(Lab/Co-op)
The Government’s action plan shows that the amount of antisocial
behaviour being reported to the police is down, yet people’s
experience of it has soared. People are not reporting antisocial
behaviour because they have lost faith that reporting crimes will
lead to any action, let alone an arrest. Arrests have halved
since the Conservatives took office in 2010, and there are
100,000 fewer neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs than there
were seven years ago. Does the Home Secretary agree that the best
way to make our communities safer is to follow Labour’s plans to
put an additional 13,000 police officers and PCSOs back on our
streets, because after 13 years of this Conservative Government,
the action plan is all talk and too little, too late?
I admire the hon. Gentleman’s cheek. Frankly, he has failed to
support any measure that we have put forward to increase police
powers or sentences on offenders, to roll out greater funding for
our police forces, or to empower them to take better action for
our residents. When he had the chance he voted against every
measure we put forward. He really needs to up his game.
(North Dorset) (Con)
Antisocial behaviour affects all our constituencies and
constituents, but the Home Secretary will know that when it comes
to funding allocations, urban areas often attract the largest
proportion of funds. In rural areas, antisocial behaviour will
often be more thinly spread and might be of a different type, but
it will still cause huge nuisance to local residents and
communities. Working with her right hon. Friend the Secretary of
State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, will she assure
me that proper rurification of the rubric of funding is
undertaken, to ensure that the concerns of my North Dorset
constituents are taken into account as much as those of
constituents in large urban conurbations?
My hon. Friend is right to highlight that disparity between
forces, which can lead to adverse impacts for those forces that
have a particular rurality. I am glad that Dorset is one of our
pilot force areas for the immediate justice scheme that we are
putting forward, as that will mean more resources for Dorset
police and on the frontline. We have an increased number of
police officers throughout England and Wales, which will increase
the resource and the response to antisocial behaviour.
(Bury South) (Lab)
I thank the Home Secretary for her statement. Colleagues across
the House will recognise the importance of tackling antisocial
behaviour with stronger and increased community policing. I would
like to raise the issue of support for junior and trainee police
officers. Anu Abraham was a 21-year-old student police officer on
a placement in West Yorkshire who took his own life following
bullying allegations and a lack of support. I met Anu’s family on
Friday, and they wanted to make it clear that they feel the harm
and lack of support that Anu experienced at the hands of the
police killed him. The family now want Anu’s death and the
miscommunication that followed to be reviewed by the Independent
Office for Police Conduct. Will the Home Secretary or the
Policing Minister meet me and Anu’s family, to hear their
concerns and discuss what can be done to prevent any further
tragedies?
May I place on the record my deepest condolences and sympathies
to the family of Anu Abraham? I cannot imagine what they must be
going through right now, and I thank the hon. Gentleman for his
advocacy for them at this difficult time. Every man or woman who
puts themselves forward to serve in our police force deserves
support and credit for their bravery and the high standards they
uphold. I am happy to arrange some kind of appropriate meeting
between an official or Home Office Minister and the hon.
Gentleman, should that be the right thing to do.
(Bassetlaw) (Con)
I commend the Home Secretary’s plan, particularly the part where
the people committing these acts will have to clean up their mess
within 48 hours. My constituents in Bassetlaw will be
particularly pleased with that as it is a better record than my
Labour council has for cleaning up graffiti, which can take at
least five working days. Nitrous oxide is of course no laughing
matter. Does the Home Secretary agree that the problem is not
just that it is a gateway to other drugs, but that it also causes
a significant amount of antisocial behaviour?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The use, supply and
possession of nitrous oxide needs to be taken much more
seriously. Young people, particularly 16 to 24-year-olds, have
been able to acquire this harmful product far too easily. The
decision I have made to ban it will ensure that many more young
people are protected from its devastating effects.
(Strangford) (DUP)
I very much welcome the Home Secretary’s statement, which has
been encouraging—I think everyone in the House welcomes it.
Underage drinking and drug use is prevalent in Northern Ireland
and does not seem to be getting any better. Will she ensure that
discussions take place with the Department of Justice in Northern
Ireland so that parallel policies can be introduced alongside the
antisocial behaviour action plan announced today, so that
Northern Ireland can match it?
As Home Secretary, my responsibility covers police forces in
England and Wales only, but I have met senior police officers in
Northern Ireland. They do a great job and, within the realms of
what is appropriate, I am always happy to liaise with them and
support them in whatever way I can.
(New Forest West) (Con)
Will the plan end the opportunity to complete community service
orders by working from home?
I do not envisage working from home to be used as a way of
remedying the damage caused by antisocial behaviour. What I
foresee, building on the very effective community payback scheme
that we rolled out throughout the country, is people involved in
graffiti, vandalism and criminal damage having to roll up their
sleeves and make amends in real and direct ways to the community
they have harmed. The consequence linked to their actions will
send a powerful message and teach them a powerful lesson.
(Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
(PC)
Criminalisation does not tackle problem drug use; it simply
blights the lives of young people with criminal records. Why not
look in depth at the reasons why people turn to drugs: the
decades of cuts to youth services; the deep poverty in which many
of our communities lapse; and the associated mental health
crisis? Is it not time, therefore, that the Home Secretary
recognises that problem drug use is primarily a health issue? And
if it is a health issue, will she review the devolution of
responsibility for drugs policy to Wales?
Dealing with drugs requires a robust policing and law enforcement
response. We are taking a tough line against illicit drug use,
and a rehabilitative element. That is why I am proud that this
Government have created 55,000 new drug treatment places and are
investing £580 million in drug treatment. There is a real
programme of work based on rehabilitation and getting people off
the devastating cycle of drug dependency.
(Meriden) (Con)
The Home Secretary will be aware that I wrote to her about the
availability of nitrous oxide and I have spoken in the House
about enforcement on fly-tipping, so I commend her for the tough
action she has taken today. I want to turn to what she said about
the Labour police and crime commissioner closing down police
stations in the west midlands. My constituents are very concerned
that he has no plan to keep a police station open in the borough
of Solihull or a front desk at Chelmsley Wood police station.
Does she agree that the Labour police and crime commissioner is
short-changing my constituents in Meriden and the people of the
west midlands?
I am afraid that where Labour leads, crime follows, and the west
midlands is no exception. The Labour police and crime
commissioner is more interested in closing police stations—he
cannot even command the support of his own Labour members—than
standing up for the law-abiding majority in the west
midlands.
(Cities of London and
Westminster) (Con)
I welcome the Government’s antisocial behaviour action plan. I
know that the vast majority of my constituents will join me in
welcoming the policies aimed at tackling organised begging gangs
and nuisance beggars. Will my right hon. and learned Friend
assure me and my constituents that this is not about bringing
back the Vagrancy Act by the backdoor, but that there is a plan
to ensure that those in need who are begging on the street will
be provided with the services they need, because the vast
majority are suffering from mental health and addiction problems?
We must remember that not all rough sleepers are beggars and not
all beggars are rough sleepers.
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. She has put in considerable
effort to tackle this issue on the frontline, both in her role as
a Member of Parliament and as a former leader of Westminster City
Council. It requires a nuanced and thoughtful approach. We are
repealing the Vagrancy Act, but we are also making it clear that
we will prohibit organised and nuisance begging. We will
introduce new tools to direct individuals to vital resources so
that they can find accommodation and support. There should not be
a reason for them to live in squalor and such hardship in this
day and age.
(Boston and Skegness)
(Con)
I welcome the Home Secretary’s focus on antisocial behaviour
today, which has long been a focus of Lincolnshire police. As she
knows, Lincolnshire police find themselves in an anomalous
funding position, as the lowest funded police force in the
country. It is remarkable that Lincolnshire remains a low crime
county, but the police need greater support. Will she reassure me
that we will get to a funding position where Lincolnshire gets
the uplift that we have seen in other parts of the country? That
will allow the police to deliver on her antisocial policy.
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise the financing of
police forces. I am aware of the challenges that Lincolnshire
police are facing in that regard. The Policing Minister, my right
hon. Friend the Member for Croydon South, and I are looking at
the measures and proposals on the funding formula. There will be
an announcement very soon.
(Penistone and Stocksbridge)
(Con)
I warmly welcome the antisocial behaviour action plan and am
delighted that South Yorkshire has been chosen as one of the
pilot trailblazer areas for hotspot policing. In my constituency,
we are fortunate that serious crime rates are low, but antisocial
behaviour still blights the lives of many constituents in
Stocksbridge, Deepcar, High Green, Penistone and Dodworth.
There is a clear link between antisocial behaviour and school
absence. Sheffield and Barnsley have some of the highest rates of
severe school absence of any local authority, with more than
2,500 children mostly missing from school across the two local
authorities. Will my right hon. and learned Friend speak to and
urge her colleagues in the Department for Education to set out a
plan to reverse the rising tide of school absence and all the
negative impacts it has not only on children but on
communities?
My hon. Friend speaks with a huge amount of experience from her
days as a teacher. She knows more than many how, with vital
resources in schooling, effective teaching and proper support in
schools and from parents, we can divert children from a life of
crime, antisocial behaviour and devastation to themselves and
their communities. There is a strong theme in this plan of
diversion, investment in youth activities, but also in the
Turnaround scheme. We are expanding the eligibility criteria and
are working with professionals to ensure that children will be
taken away from a life of crime.
(North West Norfolk) (Con)
When I have assisted constituents whose lives have been made a
living hell by neighbours using drugs or blasting out music at
all hours, it has taken far too long to solve the problem, so I
welcome the proposals that my right hon. and learned Friend has
set out to make it easier to evict such people. When will those
changes take effect, so that the courts can consider any
behaviour that creates a nuisance? Will local authorities be
empowered—and required—to act where landlords are unwilling or
absent?
My hon. Friend is right to mention eviction powers. We want to
ensure that it is easier for landlords to take action against
antisocial tenants, whether in the social or private rented
sector. Our measures in the plan will empower them to take
swifter action.
(Bury North) (Con)
Under the disastrous reign of police and crime commissioner Andy
, Greater Manchester police were put
into special measures. With the assistance of my right hon.
Friend the Member for North West Hampshire (), Stephen Watson was appointed chief constable
under the revolutionary concept of charging criminals with
offences. We saw a 42% increase in the charge rate for the 12
months up to September 2022. Does my right hon. and learned
Friend agree that not only is this plan exactly the correct
course to take, but chief constables and other senior police
officers must start arresting people, as this Government
want?
I could not put it better, but I will reiterate my hon. Friend’s
sentiment because Stephen Watson, whom I met when I visited
Greater Manchester police recently, is a real success story. His
approach is one of common-sense policing, getting the basics
right and high standards. Getting his men and women to fight
crime and focus on the priorities people have is a winning
formula. Stephen is a great leader in policing and we need more
leaders in policing just like him.
(South Dorset) (Con)
When we travel into our great cities and towns, we see mile after
mile of graffiti. The message is clear: abandon hope all ye who
enter here. Can my right hon. and learned Friend tell the House
that the perpetrators—the so-called graffiti artists—will be
tracked down and made to clean up the mess they make, and be seen
to do so publicly?
Simply put, yes. That is the aim of the community payback scheme,
which has been very successful, as well as the measures included
in this plan, whereby those who are inflicting ugliness, chaos
and nuisance on communities need to make amends themselves,
directly to the communities that they have harmed.
(Hyndburn) (Con)
I thank the Home Secretary for personally listening to the
concerns and ideas that we have had across Lancashire, and for
supporting me and our fantastic police and crime commissioner,
, as we try to tackle these
issues. Can she outline how quickly Lancashire will receive the
major £2 million funding boost for hotspot patrols and how she
thinks that will make a difference in Hyndburn and
Haslingden?
Let me put on record my thanks to my hon. Friend, but also to
, the excellent PCC in
Lancashire, who has led some great initiatives, notably on
antisocial behaviour. The police have had a lot of success in
clamping down on boy racers and other nuisance behaviour in some
town centres in the area. Lancashire police will receive funding
as one of the pilots for hotspot policing. That money will be
diverted to increasing resources on the frontline to improve
visible and responsive policing.
(Buckingham) (Con)
I warmly welcome the Home Secretary’s statement, which comes at a
particularly timely point for my constituents, as the first email
I opened in my inbox this morning reported vandalism to a
brand-new £20,000 fence around a community sports facility in
Winslow. Also over the weekend, the Crew Café in Princes
Risborough saw a break-in. That café sits at the epicentre of a
hotspot of antisocial behaviour over the last year, seeing
intimidation, broken glass and other vandalism. Can she assure me
that the powers she has announced today give the superb officers
of Thames Valley everything they need to combat these incidents
and that, as broken windows theory teaches us, this will shut
down higher-level crimes too?
I thank my hon. Friend for welcoming me to his constituency over
the weekend to meet Thames Valley police and his excellent police
and crime commissioner, . They are leading brilliant
work when it comes to rural crime. He is absolutely right. I
believe in the broken windows theory of crime prevention. It is
essential to take a zero-tolerance approach to so-called
lower-level crime. As I said, there is no such thing as petty
crime. It leads to more serious crime and more criminal
behaviour. The antisocial behaviour plan is vital to stamp it out
at the earliest possible opportunity.
(Southend West) (Con)
The Home Secretary already knows that antisocial behaviour and
nitrous oxide abuse, in particular, wreaked havoc along our
beautiful seafront in Southend and Leigh-on-Sea last summer, so I
warmly welcome these steps to ban nitrous oxide and use hotspot
policing. I thank her for meeting me and listening to my
concerns, and those of colleagues across the House. Southend
police welcome the moves and have two questions: will the
legislation be in place to avoid our seafront being blighted this
summer, and will our wonderful ice cream sellers and ice cream
parlours be excluded from the ban, as I am sure they will be?
I thank my hon. Friend for her indefatigable campaigning to ban
nitrous oxide and take a tough approach in response to that
devastating drug. She is absolutely right that there will be
exceptions to the prohibition for legitimate, lawful and proper
uses; we do not want to stop the industrial use, the commercial
use or the medicinal use of any substances. Ultimately, my hope
is that the sight of these canisters on the ground, blighting our
communities and making our places ugly, will become a thing of
the past.
(Stoke-on-Trent South)
(Con)
Stoke-on-Trent has seen significant issues with antisocial
behaviour and drugs crime, particularly with the horrific drug
monkey dust, so I very much welcome the announcement that the
Staffordshire police area will be one of the pilot hotspot areas.
Will my right hon. and learned Friend outline what that means for
frontline policing and for ensuring that more resources go to
fighting crime on the streets of Stoke-on-Trent?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right that his police force’s area
will be a pilot area for hotspot policing. The pilots will start
very soon—before the summer, we hope—and we have chosen the areas
with the greatest need. When it comes to tackling antisocial
behaviour, we see them as a priority, and we want to ensure that
there is a proper response on the frontline as quickly as
possible.
(Stockton South) (Con)
On Friday, I held a crime surgery in Thornaby and heard horrific
stories of the misery caused by youth crime and antisocial
behaviour, so today I am delighted to see Cleveland benefiting
both from additional hotspot policing and from immediate justice.
Can my right hon. and learned Friend outline what residents
across Stockton South can expect to see and, importantly, how
quickly they can expect to see it?
My hon. Friend is a doughty champion for his residents and for
public safety up in Cleveland. I am very glad that Cleveland is a
pilot both for immediate justice and for hotspot policing. What
people will be seeing up there is more funding—more funding for
more resource. That resource will, hopefully, be more police
officers, who will be able to respond in a rapid way to areas of
acute challenge when it comes to antisocial behaviour, so we can
bring an end to what my hon. Friend calls the misery of blighting
our communities, nuisance behaviour and, fundamentally, damage to
the fabric of our way of life.
|
