Antisocial Behaviour Action Plan

Anna Firth Excerpts

Monday 27th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Suella Braverman]

I thank my hon. Friend for welcoming me to his constituency over the weekend to meet Thames Valley police and his excellent police and crime commissioner, Matthew Barber. They are leading brilliant work when it comes to rural crime. He is absolutely right. I believe in the broken windows theory of crime prevention. It is essential to take a zero-tolerance approach to so-called lower-level crime. As I said, there is no such thing as petty crime. It leads to more serious crime and more criminal behaviour. The antisocial behaviour plan is vital to stamp it out at the earliest possible opportunity.

[Anna Firth (Southend West) (Con)]

The Home Secretary already knows that antisocial behaviour and nitrous oxide abuse, in particular, wreaked havoc along our beautiful seafront in Southend and Leigh-on-Sea last summer, so I warmly welcome these steps to ban nitrous oxide and use hotspot policing. I thank her for meeting me and listening to my concerns, and those of colleagues across the House. Southend police welcome the moves and have two questions: will the legislation be in place to avoid our seafront being blighted this summer, and will our wonderful ice cream sellers and ice cream parlours be excluded from the ban, as I am sure they will be?

[Suella Braverman]

I thank my hon. Friend for her indefatigable campaigning to ban nitrous oxide and take a tough approach in response to that devastating drug. She is absolutely right that there will be exceptions to the prohibition for legitimate, lawful and proper uses; we do not want to stop the industrial use, the commercial use or the medicinal use of any substances. Ultimately, my hope is that the sight of these canisters on the ground, blighting our communities and making our places ugly, will become a thing of the past.