Some £23.5m has been given out by the Home Office in the third round of its Safer Streets Fund, covering England and Wales. The Government sought bids slanted towards women’s and girls’ safety; after the outcry over the murder of Sarah Everard in March, and other high-profile cases of violence.
For a list of the winning, mainly high six-figure, bids, visit the Home Office website.
The September edition of Professional Security magazine featured Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness and the Tyne and Wear transport body Nexus that called for funding. It got what it wanted; a total of £800,000 for its two bids, to go on more CCTV, Metro safety volunteers, more lighting and a new reporting app. Nexus added that it has already invested in new CCTV and body worn cameras, and is committed to increasing the visibility of customer support staff on to the network later this year. More on the Nexus website.
Similarly Greater Manchester has been awarded £549,744 – going towards:
– reporting campaign led by TfGM (Transport for Greater Manchester) to educate passengers on reporting mechanisms and to increase reporting of incidents via the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Live Chat.
– asking with women and girls what training and campaigns they would like to see; and developing a bespoke package to deliver to boys and men.
– presence of trusted adults and trained staff to increase security to prevent serious incidents, as well as test more informal approaches to educate and engage people and increase safety and reporting.
– safe hub and safe places scheme, using a detached youth team and Street Angels to educate and engage people and increase safety and reporting.
– integration and upgrades to the CCTV system in key locations so that images can be shared between TfGM and city council systems, increasing facial recognition and coverage, and better enabling tracking of routes to car parks.
– 570 staff – including Customer Service Representatives, TravelSafe officers and tram drivers – will be trained to spot and appropriately respond to incidents and to encourage reporting.
– poster campaign designed by students on acceptable/unacceptable behaviours such as cat-calling; for display across the trams.
TfGM’s TravelSafe Manager, Kate Green, said: “We don’t just want people to be safe when using public transport, it’s really important to us that they feel safe and confident too.
“We know that concerns about safety can be a real barrier to using public transport, including for some women and I’d like to reassure all existing and potential tram, train and bus users, that their safety is always our number one priority.
“I’m delighted that we’ve been able to secure the funding to introduce a range of measures that will further support the work we are doing with the police, operators and other partners to keep our networks as safe as possible.”
The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner has £549,000. PCC Simon Foster said: “Whilst not nearly enough on its own, it will help us begin the vital work of challenging and changing attitudes and behaviours amongst men and boys. Violence against women and girls across the country is under reported and prosecution rates are extremely low.”
More in the November 2021 print edition of Professional Security magazine. Picture by Mark Rowe; Metro sign outside St James Park station, Newcastle.
