In the July print edition of Professional Security magazine, we featured some of the winners in the second round of the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund. Money allocated in June, typically through local government and PCCS, goes on locked gates around alleyways, more street lighting and installation of public space CCTV. Meanwhile Home Secretary Priti Patel said that the next round of the Fund will look at behaviour change, ‘with a primary focus on women and girls who are disproportionately affected by crimes like harassment in public places’.
That is reflected in Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness and Tyne and Wear public transport body Nexus’ proposals for body-worn cameras for transport staff; Street Pastor-style safety volunteers on patrol across the Metro train network covering Newcastle and Sunderland; and extra CCTV linked to control rooms. They point to findings of the survey in Northumbria that people feel most safe in their neighbourhood during the day, and least safe in their nearest park, which was the same at night. Overall responses for Northumbria suggested that during the day time, 47 per cent felt ‘safe or very safe’ on public transport, compared to only 14 per cent at night.
Kim McGuinness said: “We’ve come up with a range of measures that we believe rethink public safety. People have told us what would make them feel so much safer and we want to make these things possible. There are various parts to the strategy. We want to give the reporting of ASB a complete overhaul and make it so much easier for local people to get the help they need when they need it. We also want to implement practical solutions like help points and improve lighting. We want to support all this with educational campaigns to raise awareness and promote the support services that people can turn to.
“I’ve sent the findings of the survey in my bid with a very clear message that Government must back these concerns with funds that allow us to do something about them. We are still one of the safest regions, thankfully, but we’re clearly not safe enough and things need to change. We’re bringing real solutions to the table that will make our region safer for everyone. All we need now is the green light for Government funding for our region.”
Backing the bid, Martin Gannon, Gateshead Council leader and chair of the region’s joint transport committee, said: “We wholeheartedly support the solutions put forward by the Northumbria Police Commissioner to make public transport safer in the region. We recently set out a roadmap in the 2021 North East Transport Plan to build on the infrastructure in place to achieve a safer and more attractive transport network, which reflects many of the findings from the recent survey.
“It is vital that people feel safe on our streets so that there is higher take up of walking and cycling, which are the greenest and healthiest forms of travel, as well as public transport use in the region. This is why we’re hopeful for a positive response to the public safety bid.”
And Chief Operating Officer at Nexus, Martin Kearney, said: “We have worked in partnership with the Police and Crime Commissioner to build this bid. It is vital customers feel safe on public transport at all times and we look forward to working with Kim McGuinness and our police force on this important project. Crime rates on the Tyne and Wear Metro are low for a network of its size, but we will never stop working to build customer confidence and deal with anti-social behaviour.
“Nexus has already invested in new CCTV and body worn cameras, and we are committed to increasing the visibility of customer support staff on to the network later this year. The Safer Streets funding bid will really help us to build on this work and we fully support it.”
A £400,000 bid has been submitted to the Government.
