Antisocial Behaviour in Town Centres

Alex Davies-Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 26th April 2023 Westminster Hall

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

It is an honour to speak in this morning’s debate and serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I am not usually one for superstition, but I must say that this debate is incredibly timely. Sadly, only last weekend, my community was hit by a particularly violent bout of antisocial behaviour in our town centre of Pontypridd, while last night, another incident of unprovoked violence occurred in our town. At the time of preparing my comments for this debate, a distressing video of last Friday’s violent brawl is circulating online in which one individual can be seen laying on the floor literally having his head kicked in.

This is the sad reality of our high streets, but let me be clear: Pontypridd is not ordinarily a violent community. Antisocial behaviour is a blight on communities up and down the country—my area is not alone. Today’s debate is about an important national issue that our constituents rightly expect us to take seriously. But for me, this is also a persistent local issue, as my constituents are sick and tired of being intimidated by antisocial behaviour.

Last weekend, I was shocked and saddened to learn of such an incident taking place in a part of town that is usually—especially on market day—bustling with activity, as locals shop around for a bargain or enjoy a bite to eat at one of our many offerings. It is precisely because Pontypridd’s town centre is so often a vibrant place that I have my constituency office just seconds away from where the market traders set up their stalls.

Following recent events in Pontypridd, I want to place on record my heartfelt thanks for the swift actions of South Wales police and our local Pontypridd policing team, including Chief Inspector Helen Coulthard, Inspector Leigh Parfitt and Constable Liam Noyce among many others. South Wales police does phenomenal work to keep us safe, especially when much of its work happens thanklessly and tirelessly behind closed doors. However, the frustrating reality is that South Wales police is doing the best it can with extremely limited resources.

Embedded, preventive neighbourhood policing is such a vital part of keeping our streets safe. But let me be clear: after more than a decade of Tory budget cuts to policing across the UK, we have weakened our country’s capacity to deal with antisocial behaviour, both in a preventive capacity and, too often, when responding to it. I need not remind colleagues that this UK Tory Government have cut police officer numbers across the UK by thousands. Across the UK, charges have collapsed, antisocial perpetrators are getting away with their behaviour, and criminal damage and arson attacks have skyrocketed. We can, and we must, do better.

Proper neighbourhood policing is vital, but another important part of preventing antisocial behaviour is, of course, the adequate provision of youth services to get teenagers away from the streets. Shamefully, funding for those sorts of services has also been cut to the bone thanks to 13 years of Conservative rule in Westminster. Our communities up and down the country are facing undeniable funding pressures. Youth services have been completely slashed, which increases the chances of antisocial behaviour, and with neighbourhood policing on its knees, perpetrators are more likely to get away with their disgraceful behaviour.

I am proud to say that in Wales our Labour-led authority, despite the impossible challenge thrown at it by the UK Tory Government, is trying to make a difference for its communities. Indeed, we are fortunate that on Ponty high street, at the site of our old YMCA building, our town centre will soon boast an incredible £4.4 million arts and youth centre zone. The project will deliver true community spaces and provide much-needed youth services for a generation. I am also lucky to be well supported by a fantastic business improvement district. Pontypridd BID has been vital in championing antisocial behaviour prevention measures, where the UK Government funding has barely scratched the surface. But as with local authorities across the nation, it is overstretched and having to do more with less and less.

Colleagues will be aware that I am a proud and vocal champion for fair funding for Wales. The inadequacy of the Barnett funding formula is very much a topic for another day, but it is an important truth that the UK Government have a responsibility to support ASB-related projects across the UK. I put on record my thanks to the Welsh Labour Government, who with the limited powers available to them have committed to more police community support officers, and I look forward to welcoming the officers on the streets of Pontypridd this summer.

I also look forward to hearing the Minister’s responses to my points, and I sincerely hope that there is a strategy to tackle antisocial behaviour once and for all. We need an ambitious strategy to tackle it, but the Department has clearly failed thus far to act appropriately, which is having serious consequences for people across the UK. I sincerely hope that the Minister is listening and I look forward to her remarks.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Miss Sarah Dines)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Robbie Moore) for securing the debate. He knows, as we all do, that these issues matter to a great many of our constituents in all parts of the country. Antisocial behaviour is a menace that must be reckoned with. It causes untold distress, concern, frustration and fear. It ruins people’s enjoyment of public spaces, and at worst it destroys lives and gnaws at the fabric of communities. It is totally unacceptable.

Town centres should be bustling and energetic, but they should also be safe. My hon. Friend mentioned Keighley bus station. Transport is crucial. People should be able to walk to get a bus or train, and his work in that area is really important. The Government are committing a large sum of money—an extra £2.5 million—for a pilot to extend transport safety officers. Conservatives feel very strongly about such issues.

No one should feel threatened when walking alone at night or during the day. Nor should they have to dodge litter or drug paraphernalia on the streets, endure persistent unruly behaviour or excessive noise, or see their local areas disfigured by graffiti and vandalism. Those are just a few of the many examples Members have raised of how antisocial behaviour manifests. Different areas have different problems, as is clear from Members’ contributions, but a recurring theme is the harm done to the physical environment and the impact on decent, law-abiding citizens, who suffer as a result of the actions of a selfish minority. Antisocial behaviour affects lives.

[Alex Davies-Jones]

Will the Minister give way?

[Miss Dines]

I will make a little more progress first. Antisocial behaviour is not low level or minor, and I do not accept the characterisation that the Government view it as somehow petty. That is an unfortunate narrative. I am sure that we all agree that antisocial behaviour is very impactful on people’s everyday lives. We need to attack it head-on.

In relation to the police uplift, today’s debate is obviously very timely, for two reasons. At 9.30 this morning, just as my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley was rising to start his remarks, the latest statistics on the police uplift programme were published. Let me confirm to hon. Members what those figures tell us. I am delighted to say—we should be proud—that from the end of March 2023, 20,951 additional police officers have been recruited from funding from the police uplift programme. That brings the current police officer head- count in England and Wales to 149,572, an increase of 3,542 compared with 2010.

The upshot is that there are now more police officers in England and Wales than at any point in history. The Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for Croydon Central (Sarah Jones), is inaccurate in saying that that is not the case. We will have more police on the beat to prevent violence—more police out about in their communities, solving burglaries and, yes, tackling antisocial behaviour on the ground. It is of course for police forces to determine how they use their own money and the additional officers at their disposal. Let me say in response to some of the contributions we have heard that West Midlands police has closed 20 police stations and chosen to spend £33 million of its money refurbishing a head office. But there is no doubt that the police have a crucial role to play in tackling antisocial behaviour. A responsive and visible police presence can have a strong deterrent effect as well as helping to provide reassurance for communities.

This debate is timely for a second reason: it was only at the end of last month that the Government published their bold and ambitious action plan to tackle antisocial behaviour. The difference between our plan and Labour’s is that ours actually has some depth, narrative and detail. The hon. Member for Croydon Central will remember that detail and figures are really important.

As has been made clear today, constituents all over the country are sick and tired of antisocial behaviour. The Government hear their concerns and we are determined to step up the response. Our action plan will give police and crime commissioners and local authorities and their agencies the tools to stamp out antisocial behaviour across England and Wales. It targets the callous and careless few whose actions ruin public spaces and amenities on which the law-abiding majority want to depend.

[Alex Davies-Jones]

The Minister mentioned the impact of antisocial behaviour on communities and she also mentioned transport. A big problem that we have is the antisocial noise from the exhausts of modified cars racing up and down our bypasses and through our town centres. Last April, the former Transport Secretary, the right hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps), announced a pilot of noise cameras to capture that antisocial behaviour, but we have heard very little since. Will the Minister go back to the Transport Secretary to find out what is happening with the noise cameras and see whether they can be rolled out across the UK, because that antisocial behaviour is a major problem in Pontypridd and Taff-Ely?

[Miss Dines]

I am certainly willing to do that. Anecdotally, there are similar issues in my constituency of Derbyshire Dales, and I have written to the Transport Secretary myself in that regard. There are pilots, and I think there is a consideration as to whether there should be more.

The Government’s action plan outlines a radical new approach and is split across four key areas. There will be stronger punishment for perpetrators. The Opposition say that the Government have disregarded that, but that is not the case; the Government are going to bring forward stronger punishment for perpetrators. The hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Marion Fellows) mentioned experiences of zero tolerance in the USA. There are historical and academic reasons why that is of interest and why it works in some areas and not in others, but the Government will introduce stronger punishment for perpetrators in this country.

We are cracking down on illegal drugs, making offenders repair the damage that they cause, increasing financial penalties, and evicting antisocial tenants. Drugs are harmful to health, wellbeing and security, and they devastate lives. That is why we have decided to ban nitrous oxide, known as laughing gas, which is currently the third most used drug among 16 to 24-year-olds. How many of us have stumbled across the canisters broken on the ground? That really is antisocial behaviour. The Government will put an end to the hordes of youths loitering in parks and littering them with empty canisters.

Furthermore, under our new plan, the police will be able to undertake drug testing of suspected criminals in police custody for a wider range of drugs, including ecstasy and methamphetamine—medical testing is moving onwards. They will test offenders linked to crimes such as violence against women and girls, serious violence, and antisocial behaviour. We will ensure that the consequences for those committing antisocial behaviour are toughened up. Our immediate justice pilots will deliver swift, visible punishment for those involved. Members who have contributed are right that we need to see more officers on the street, and the Government are delivering that.

Offenders will undertake manual reparative work that makes good the damage suffered by victims. I am pleased that the Opposition agree with that plan, which is part of their own plan. Communities will be consulted on the type of work undertaken, and the work should start swiftly—ideally, within 48 hours of notice from the police. Whether it is cleaning up graffiti, picking up litter or washing police cars while wearing hi-vis jumpsuits or vests, people caught behaving antisocially will have to make swift reparations to the community.

The upper limits of on-the-spot fines will be increased to £1,000 for fly-tipping, which I know is a scourge for many Members present, including my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley. Another notable absence from the Labour party’s plan is proper figures. Facts and figures are really important, so we have announced that the fine for fly-tipping will be increased to £1,000, and to £500 for litter and graffiti. We will support councils to hand out more fines to offenders, with the money going back into local authority investment on activities such as cleaning up and enforcement, which is essential.

Nobody should have to endure persistent antisocial behaviour from their neighbours, which is why we plan to halve the delay between a private landlord serving notice for antisocial behaviour and eviction. We will also broaden the scope of harmful activities that can lead to eviction and make sure that antisocial offenders are de-prioritised for social housing.

Secondly, we are making communities safer. We are funding an increased police and other uniformed presence focused on antisocial behaviour in targeted hotspots where it is most prevalent. Initially we will support 10 trailblazer areas, before rolling out the hotspot enforcement across all forces in England and Wales. Hon. Members have mentioned their areas. Northumbria, West Midlands and South Wales police and crime commissioners will be piloting the enhanced hotspot response in 2023-24.

We will also replace the 19th-century Vagrancy Act with tools to direct vulnerable individuals towards appropriate support, such as accommodation, mental health or substance misuse services. We will criminalise organised begging, which is often facilitated by criminal gangs to obtain cash for illicit activity. We will prohibit begging where it causes blight and public nuisance, for example, where there are cashpoints, in shop doorways or when people are approached directly by someone in the street. We will also give police and local authorities the tools to address situations where rough sleeping is a public nuisance, such as the obstruction of doorways or the build-up of debris and tents, while ensuring that those who are genuinely homeless are directed towards appropriate help. We will build local pride in places by giving councils stronger tools to revitalise communities, bring more empty high street shops back into use, and restore local parks.

Youth have been mentioned by the hon. Members for Wansbeck (Ian Lavery) and for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones), and prevention and early intervention is of course important. It is an issue on which we can all agree. We need to have young people properly engaged to steer them away from crime, which is why the Government have committed to the third strand of our plan: prevention and early intervention. Around 80% of prolific adult offenders begin committing crimes as children.

We are funding 1 million more hours of provision for young people in antisocial behaviour hotspots and expanding eligibility for the turnaround programme, which will support 17,000 children—not just 500, as has been suggested—who are on the cusp of the criminal justice system. Our £500-million national youth guarantee also means that, by 2025, every young person will have access to regular clubs, activities and opportunities to volunteer. It would be useful if all Members, including Opposition Members, read the Government’s antisocial plan, because it addresses many issues raised by all parties. Because we are funding 1 million more hours of provision for young people, that really is going to be a turnaround for them. We are working with youth offending teams, the Probation Service and local authorities to intervene very early on behalf of children at particular risk.

Fourthly, we will improve accountability. A new digital tool will mean that members of the public have a simple and clear way to report antisocial behaviour and receive updates on their case. We have also launched a targeted consultation on community safety partnerships, with the aim of making them more accountable and effective.

I am particularly interested in the points made by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) from a Northern Ireland perspective. He is always insightful. Although the Government are putting such a lot of money into making streets safer, that is only possible with the assistance of the community. Sometimes the state is not very good at it, but the community is. It is only with the assistance of those working in the community—such as street pastors, who were mentioned by the hon. Member for Birmingham, Erdington (Mrs Hamilton)—that we can move forward.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley for securing the debate and everyone who has participated. We can all agree that antisocial behaviour is a scourge, but it is all about how best to address it. I suggest that the Government, in a properly costed and thought-through way, have addressed the issue. It has been underlined again today just how enormously important tackling antisocial behaviour is to people up and down the country. The Government hear and understand those concerns, and we are acting on them. As I have set out, we are implementing a very wide-ranging, carefully thought-out plan that is backed by proper statistics, thought and planning. It is also backed by £160 million of funding, and it will bring benefits to every part of England and Wales, including town centres. As ever, our focus is on doing what is right for the decent, hard-working and law-abiding majority. We will do everything in our power to protect them from harm and to deliver them the safe and peaceful streets they deserve.