Oral Answers to Questions

Kevin McKenna Excerpts

Monday 25th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Becky Gittins (Clwyd East) (Lab)]

2. What steps her Department is taking to help tackle antisocial behaviour on high streets and in town centres.

[Kevin McKenna (Sittingbourne and Sheppey) (Lab)]

6. What steps her Department is taking to help tackle antisocial behaviour on high streets and in town centres.

[Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)]

23. What steps she is taking to improve safety in town centres.

--- Later in debate ---

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend is exactly right, and I congratulate her on standing up for her town centre. When town centre crime gets out of control, it impacts on local businesses and local confidence, and it impacts badly on communities. That is why we are bringing in respect orders, under which repeat perpetrators can be banned from town centres, and setting out our plans to have 13,000 more neighbourhood police and police community support officers back on our streets.

[Kevin McKenna]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that helpful answer. Many residents in my constituency flag up the real problems with antisocial behaviour in both Sheerness and Sittingbourne town centres. Windows have been smashed in church halls, and shop windows were smashed when the Christmas lights were being put on—I am seeing this all the time. Can she please tell me what help she is offering Kent police to support my residents facing this behaviour?

[Yvette Cooper]

My hon. Friend makes a really important point. As well as our plans to increase neighbourhood policing and introduce respect orders, we are going to get rid of the ludicrous £200 rule that we inherited from the Conservatives, which means that shoplifting is very often not properly investigated. That needs to be taken much more seriously.

Small Boat Crossings

Kevin McKenna Excerpts

Wednesday 6th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Eagle]

Yes, my hon. Friend’s constituents can be assured that a great deal of work is going on and more resources are being applied. A lot more intelligence is being gathered, much of which cannot be discussed publicly. We are on it.

[Kevin McKenna (Sittingbourne and Sheppey) (Lab)]

I strongly welcome the Government’s focus on tackling the root causes of organised crime behind the small boats, rather than the gimmicks of the previous Government. Across Kent, the criminal gangs are fuelling a rise in organised crime, and in my constituency that is pushing up rural crime, street crime and antisocial behaviour. Will my hon. Friend ensure that the new Border Security Command works closely with Kent police to deal with the effects across the whole of Kent and the wider country?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. Some areas have suffered particular pressure from this phenomenon over the years, and Kent is one of them, so I am acutely aware of the pressure that he and the local authorities in that area are under.