Antisocial Behaviour Action Plan

Debate between Suella Braverman and Sara Britcliffe

Monday 27th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Suella Braverman]

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.

[Sara Britcliffe (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, Andrew Snowden, 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?

[Suella Braverman]

Let me put on record my thanks to my hon. Friend, but also to Andrew Snowden, 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.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Suella Braverman and Sara Britcliffe

Monday 6th February 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Suella Braverman)]

On 31 January, the Government confirmed a total police funding settlement of up to £17.2 billion for 2023-24, an increase of up to £287 million on this year, providing the police with the resources to fight crime and keep the public safe. As a result of our police uplift programme, we are on track to meet our target of 20,000 new police officers, meaning that England and Wales will have the most police officers ever.

[Sara Britcliffe]

I welcome the work this Government are doing to increase police resources and tackle antisocial behaviour, with many initiatives—such as the youth investment fund, the youth justice sport fund and the safer streets fund—acting as preventive policy measures. However, in my constituency of Hyndburn and Haslingden, it is not just individuals who are impacted by this; it is also businesses, which have associated costs and fear for their staff. Will my right hon. and learned Friend work with me to see how we can address this issue for businesses on our high streets?

[Suella Braverman]

I share my hon. Friend’s deep concern about antisocial behaviour, and I was pleased to discuss the issue with her very recently. She will obviously be aware of the 435 new police officers on the ground in Lancashire, thanks to this Government. She will also be aware of the 18% fall in neighbourhood crime in Lancashire since 2019, thanks to this Government, and the £1 million safer streets funding in Lancashire, thanks to this Government. Lancashire police are building a specialist antisocial behaviour unit to make the most of those extra resources, and have already had some progress with Operation Propulsion, aimed at tackling nuisance bikes. There is more to do, and that is why I will be setting out the antisocial behaviour plan in due course.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Suella Braverman and Sara Britcliffe

Thursday 9th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Sara Britcliffe (Hyndburn) (Con)]

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the CPS during the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Attorney General (Suella Braverman)]

First, I thank the CPS for its hard work during this difficult time. It has had to adapt to significant changes to its normal working practices, and despite the challenges has maintained a high quality of service within our criminal justice system and for victims. The inspectorate report published on 30 June sets out an analysis of its response to the pandemic. It commends the organisation’s digital capability, strategic planning and foresight in upgrading its capabilities, which meant that prosecutors were able to continue their vital work with minimum disruption. I was very pleased to virtually visit the CPS in the south-west, where I was able to see at first hand the impressive way in which it has transitioned to this new way of working.

[The Attorney General]

Last week, I chaired the CPS ministerial board, at which I was pleased to hear that the CPS’s recruitment programme has continued at pace throughout the pandemic, utilising digital tools, including video interviews. The CPS is recruiting 390 new staff as a result of the Government’s £85 million investment in it. Two hundred and twenty-five lawyers have started and a further 76 have been offered roles and will be starting in the near future. The most recent campaign closed on 17 June and resulted in a record number of applications—901.

[Sara Britcliffe]

Can the Attorney General tell the House how many members of the CPS were off sick due to covid-19?

[The Attorney General]

The CPS has been monitoring the absence level of both lawyer and support staff throughout the pandemic. Where necessary, the CPS has virtually redeployed staff between different CPS areas to ensure that workloads were effectively managed. Court closures and the significant reduction in court sittings resulted in the release of some staff to undertake different tasks and work. This increased the amount of legal and administrative resources available for casework.