Anti-social Behaviour: East of England

Alex Mayer Excerpts

Tuesday 11th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Alice Macdonald]

I do agree and, as my hon. Friend will be aware, I recently visited Southend and saw what a vibrant community it is. I believe that the new measures will benefit not only the east of England as a whole but the entire country.

I will just conclude my point about police and police financing. As the Minister will be aware, the chief constable of Norfolk is also the national policing lead for finance, and he has raised a number of issues with me, including some no-cost ideas that could be explored to relieve pressure on the police, such as the flexibility for the police to recruit the right workforce mix. I hope that in her response to the debate, the Minister will speak about that issue and perhaps outline some of her conversations with the chief constable.

As I have said, Norwich is a wonderful place to live and we can all play our part in ensuring that our fine city stays that way. It is vital that the fight against antisocial behaviour is carried out at all levels. I welcome the work of Sarah Taylor, the excellent police and crime commissioner for Norfolk. I also welcome the work of Norwich City Council’s excellent Love Norwich campaign, which aims to tackle environmental antisocial behaviour, with a range of measures to tackle fly-tipping, littering and graffiti.

[Alex Mayer (Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way on that point about councils. In my area, Central Bedfordshire Council has just decided to remove all of its safer neighbourhood officers. The chief constable has said that there will be increased risks to the public because of that. These are uniformed people who go around our streets handing out fixed penalty notices for littering, looking at graffiti and generally making members of the community feel safer. Both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives in the council voted against an amendment to keep such officers in place. Does my hon. Friend agree that councils have a duty to make sure that they crack down on low-level antisocial behaviour, and that if they do not do so, there will be a real knock-on effect on local people?

[Alice Macdonald]

I totally agree. As I said, action needs to be taken at all levels, including central Government, local government and in communities, which do brilliant work. The Love Norwich campaign also includes a grant scheme where communities can apply for up to £2,500 to enhance and open all communal space near them. This is the best of our society in action.

I am sure we have all seen litter-picks led by local volunteers in action in our areas, which see people come together to keep our areas clean, safe and welcoming for all residents. I also welcome the investment of our Labour-led city council in new security doors, including at St James Close in Norwich North. Many of my constituents have told me that unrestricted access can contribute to long-running antisocial behaviour issues. Of course, we want to prevent those issues in the first place, but it is a good example of a local council responding to what it is hearing from local communities.

I will conclude with this message: antisocial behaviour is a blight on all our communities. It cannot and will not be tolerated. I applaud the Government’s efforts in taking actions to tackle it and to put more police on our streets, but there is still a long way to go. I know that the Government will continue to do everything they can to tackle the scourge of antisocial behaviour in all its forms.

Antisocial Behaviour and Illegal Bikes

Alex Mayer Excerpts

Wednesday 5th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Alex Mayer (Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Tipton and Wednesbury (Antonia Bance) on securing this very popular debate. For far too long, off-road bikes have been driven in an antisocial and dangerous manner. These vehicles tear through parks, speed along pavements and roar through residential areas. The results are noise pollution, frightened residents and a real danger to public safety.

My constituents constantly talk to me about this issue. A woman recently told me that the riders

“do wheelies through the main streets of Dunstable and Houghton Regis, often in small groups, sometimes with up to 30 or more bikes.”

Another constituent told me that the bikes constantly travelled the wrong way down their one-way street; another said that they are an “accident waiting to happen”. An email that turned up in my inbox not long ago said:

“Today boys playing football were almost run over by these idiots. It’s only a matter of time before someone is hurt or killed”.

Many of the riders are balaclava-clad, with a bag slung over their shoulder, and they are checking their mobiles as they go along. This activity is not just antisocial and dangerous; it is clearly linked to drugs.

I commend the police and crime commissioner for Bedfordshire, John Tizard, and Bedfordshire police’s Operation Skytree for the work that they have done to start to tackle this problem, particularly in Houghton Regis and Dunstable. Just last month, more than 25 officers were deployed, along with specialist equipment. They were driving around on quad bikes, so they were able to chase these individuals. They even managed to employ one of their new drones, so that they could track the individuals as they went to places where it is normally more difficult to track them. As a direct result of that operation, one man on a bike was arrested in possession of drugs and five bikes were seized. That is a positive first step, but there is clearly much more work to do.

I really welcome, as do many other hon. Members, the introduction in Parliament last week of the Crime and Policing Bill, with the provision to make it easier to seize illegal bikes—ideally, when the crime is actually happening. I would be grateful if my right hon. Friend the Minister could clarify that there is nothing in the law to prevent the police from pursuing riders who are not wearing helmets. People need and deserve to be able to live in communities safe and secure from the menace of misused off-road bikes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Alex Mayer Excerpts

Monday 24th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)]

I thank the hon. Member for his question, and if he wants to write to me about that case, I will be very happy to look at it.

[Alex Mayer (Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard) (Lab)]

T7.   Eenie and Meenie, two white cats from Stanbridge, were recently shot and killed. Could the Minister outline what discussions she has had with local police to that ensure that these crimes are properly investigated and that the law is upheld?