Anti-social Behaviour and Crime
(asked on 27th June 2022) - View Source
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of (a) youth crime and (b) anti-social behaviour in (i) Bournemouth East and (ii) England in the last three years; and what steps she is taking to help tackle those crimes.
The Government is committed to tackling and preventing anti-social behaviour (ASB). We know the serious impact that persistent ASB can have on both individuals and communities.
The Government introduced a range of flexible tools and powers for local agencies, including police forces, local authorities, and landlords, to tackle anti-social behaviour through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (‘the 2014 Act’). Local areas decide how best to deploy these powers depending on the specific circumstances.
Home Office statutory guidance, which was updated in June 2022, supports all local agencies in using the powers from the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and in taking the multi-agency approach that is needed to tackle and prevent anti-social behaviour in a way that takes account of the needs of the victim and the wider community.
Last year the Beating Crime Plan laid out the Government’s plan for tackling crime and ASB and committed to working with local agencies and partners to drive down ASB using the full range of powers and tools in the ‘2014 Act’.
The Home Office announced in March this year that ASB would be one of the primary crime and issue types being targeted in the fourth and fifth rounds of the Safer Streets Fund. This is a total of £150m over two rounds which aims to support local areas in preventing and tackling neighbourhood crimes, ASB and violence against women and girls.
The Levelling-up Fund (LUF), which is a total of £4.8billion, will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets. Crime and ASB forms part of the LUF prospectus, which means that local areas will be able to include reduction of crime and ASB within their bids for funding. The Minister for Crime, Policing and Probation wrote out to all Police and Crime Commissioner’s in April 2022 encouraging them to work closely with local authorities on their bids to incorporate crime and ASB reducing elements.
The ONS publish data on trends of anti-social behaviour incidents recorded by the police in England and Wales at Police Force Area (PFA) level annually and the latest figures can be found here:
Data is not held centrally at Parliamentary Constituency level.
For ten years, the Youth Endowment Fund has invested £200million in early intervention and support initiatives to support young people at risk of involvement in serious violence. Violence Reduction Units divert young people away from crime, they reached 26,000 in their second year of funding.
Trends on juvenile offenders is held by the Ministry of Justice and Youth Justice Board and statistics on young people (aged 10 to 17) receiving cautions and convictions at court are published on a quarterly basis and the latest statistics can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2021