Today at Prime Minister's Questions I asked Boris Johnson what is being done to further tackle anti-social behaviour.
Anti-social behaviour, both in the town centre and across the Borough, is something that is unfortunately brought up with me by residents time and time again. We are seeing nearly £35 million of government investment come to Newcastle and locals want to be able to enjoy the benefits of this funding without the disruption caused by ASB.
Having spoken with the new Chief Constable for Staffordshire Police, Chris Noble, and the new Borough Commander for Newcastle, Laura Morrey, I know that both see deterring ASB as top of their agenda.
As part of their plans Newcastle will, from June, get its own dedicated Response unit, run directly out of Newcastle, with 10 extra sergeants. This will mean Newcastle sees further action on ASB, with PCSOs getting immediate support when requested. Having our own response unit will also mean an increase in police visibility and officers arriving in a quicker time.
In his response, the Prime Minister also announced that there are now 13,576 more police on the streets of this country, as part of the Government’s pledge to put 20,000 additional officers on the streets by 2023.
Staffordshire police has now seen 201 new officers since 2019, bringing the total count to 1,849 across the county. More officers means more help to stop ASB, pursue more criminals, and to keep our neighbourhoods safe.
