Anti-social Behaviour: East of England

Debate between Josh Dean and Lewis Cocking

Tuesday 11th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Josh Dean (Hertford and Stortford) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Alice Macdonald) for securing this debate on an issue of deep importance to our constituents. I start by acknowledging that Hertford and Stortford is a fantastic place to live, work and learn. My parents moved to Hertford in the late 1990s because they wanted the best start in life for me, and growing up I was lucky enough to benefit from the diverse offering of opportunity in our semi-rural community.

Our residents are deeply proud of our towns and villages and want our local area to thrive, but too often, instances of antisocial behaviour cause huge disruption to their lives and blight our communities. In the year ending March 2024, there were just over 2,000 incidents of antisocial behaviour in Hertford and Stortford. Those are not simply statistics. Each incident leaves residents who feel less secure on their way home from work, in our town centres, or even in their own home at night. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the work being done by police in our community. I am pleased that tackling retail crime and antisocial behaviour in Sawbridgeworth is a priority for the police, with extra patrols and public appeals to identify perpetrators. Likewise, I welcome the use of regular speed checks on Hadham Road in Bishop’s Stortford to tackle antisocial and dangerous driving, with one driver issued with a traffic offence report after he was caught speeding at 54 mph in a 30 mph zone.

[Lewis Cocking]

Does the hon. Member agree that when police set up patrols to catch people who speed, the news quickly gets on to apps to tell people coming down the road that there is a policeman standing there with a speed gun? Does he think the Government should explore whether to ban apps that do that, so that we can catch people who speed on our roads?

[Josh Dean]

I thank the hon. Member for raising that interesting point, which I will certainly consider. It is important that we tackle antisocial driving and speeding. We have a specific incident spot on West Street in Hertford, where residents have been campaigning to deal with antisocial driving and speeding not just since I was a councillor there a year ago, but for the past 25 years. I am sure Members will not mind me pointing out that that is longer than I have been alive.

We know that antisocial behaviour takes many forms, often going hand in hand with crime, and that means that our police have to fight on multiple fronts, but they will always have my support when they take positive steps to tackle antisocial behaviour in our community. We know there is more to do, and I welcome this Labour Government’s commitment to cracking down on the antisocial behaviour that blights our communities, including through the tough new measures in the Crime and Policing Bill. Residents regularly disturbed by e-scooters and off-road bikes misused on our streets will welcome the removal of the requirement for police to issue a warning before seizing vehicles associated with antisocial behaviour.

Ours must also be a Government who tackle antisocial behaviour at its roots, so in the time I have remaining I shall talk about antisocial behaviour among young people. Too often in semi-rural communities like mine, young people are driven to antisocial behaviour by lack of provision and support. The famous image of the loitering youth only exists because there is so rarely anywhere else for them to go, such was the decimation of youth services under the watch of the previous Government for 14 years.

I pay tribute to the work of the charities and voluntary organisations filling gaps in youth services in our community, particularly the Thirst Youth Café in Bishop’s Stortford and FUTUREhope in Hertford, where I once volunteered. Their work not only deters young people from antisocial behaviour and the more serious crime it acts as a doorway to, but builds their confidence, so that they can find the path that is right for them and contribute positively to our community.

I warmly welcome the work that this Government are undertaking to introduce a network of Young Futures hubs to support young people’s development in communities like mine, to improve their mental health and wellbeing and to stop them from being drawn into a life of crime and antisocial behaviour. I am also encouraged by plans to develop a new national youth strategy to deliver better co-ordinated youth services at the local, regional and national levels, and to help all our young people to reach their full potential.