‘It’s too little too late’ – Northumbria PCC hits out at government plans to crackdown on anti-social behaviour

Kim McGuinness has said the announcement from the government does not go far enough to reverse 13 years of police and council cuts.

The Northumbria PCC made the comments after Rishi Sunak’s government promised to crackdown on anti-social behaviour (ASB).

The plans will see Northumbria Police given funding for extra patrols and making offenders repair the damage that they have caused but the Force will not be provided with long-term investment in youth services or family support.

Kim states that the government needs to focus on eliminating the root causes of ASB rather than releasing limiting funds for extra police officers on the streets.

She said: “13 years of government cuts have caused a rise in ASB and now we’re only getting half the solution. Government has announced limited funds for extra police patrols, but they still owe Northumbria more than 500 extra officers to reverse cuts to police numbers.

“Ministers say they want to tackle ASB but if they do not invest long term in preventing ASB with good neighbourhood services, in youth workers and councils and community hubs, the Government will simply run out of money to deal with those people committing ASB.

“This isn’t to make an excuse for those who blight our neighbourhoods, cause damage or make victims of their neighbours. But in the long-term we can’t arrest our way out of crime.

“If we don’t devolve the ability to invest in public services and create real opportunity, we’ll constantly be sending police officers, or the council or the housing association back to the same neighbourhoods to deal with the same repeat offenders from the same households.

“Any funding we can get our hands on for the North East we will welcome but it’s too little too late.

“The government needs to be to bring child poverty down, to eliminate the root causes of anti-social behaviour and until it does we will be in the position where we simply need more cops on the streets.”

The plans will see those responsible for offences such as vandalism start repair work as soon as possible, with offenders being made to wear jumpsuits or his-vis jackets and work under supervision so they are visible to the public.

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