WARRINGTON South MP Andy Carter has welcomed £550,000 in extra funding for Cheshire Police as part of the Government’s £25 million Safer Streets Fund.
The Safer Streets Fund forms part of the Government’s concerted action to tackle crime and aims to stop offences that blight communities and cause misery to victims from happening in the first place – and was a key Conservative manifesto commitment.
The extra funding will be aimed at improving security in areas particularly affected by acquisitive crimes such as burglary, vehicle theft and robbery.
These offences are the crimes that the public are most likely to encounter, and they are estimated to cost society billions of pounds every year.
The £550,000 of new funding will go towards measures proven to cut crime. These include simple changes to the design of streets such as locked gates around alleyways, increased street-lighting and the installation of CCTV.
The funding will also be used to train community wardens, deliver local crime prevention advice to residents and establish Neighbourhood Watch schemes.
Police and Crime Commissioners were invited to bid for a share of the £25 million Safer Streets Fund in January, with each project eligible for a grant of up to £550,000.
Bids were evaluated against a set criteria and bidders were asked to outline a plan to reduce crime within a local crime hotspot, demonstrating value for money, evidence of community engagement and long-term sustainability.
This additional funding comes alongside the Government’s commitment to recruit 20,000 additional police officers over the next three years, and the £1.1 billion funding boost for the policing system for 2020-21.
Commenting, Mr Carter said: “This Government was elected on the promise to crack down on crime and make our streets safer, and the £550,000 announced today for Cheshire will go some way to helping deliver that.
“This new money will help fund proven crime cutting measures, such as increased street lighting, CCTV and locked gates around alleyways – and I am confident from results in Lymm which has a new village CCTV system that these types of measures are effective and help reduce crimes such as burglary and robbery in areas that need it the most.
“I want people in Warrington South to feel secure in their communities and be able to live their lives free from the threat of crime, and this extra funding for Cheshire will help make that possible. Residents will also be reassured that the Government’s promise to recruit more Police Officers is now well underway in Cheshire.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “I will not stand by while criminals inflict fear and misery on our communities.
“That is why I set up this fund to ensure we are doing all we can to prevent people falling victim to these crimes.”
