Respect Orders and Antisocial Behaviour

Debate between Max Wilkinson and Diana Johnson

Wednesday 27th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dame Diana Johnson]

I will certainly add Rugby to the list. My hon. Friend makes an important point about how this cannot just be done with the police alone; it has to be done alongside councils. I commend the use of community wardens, who are a great resource for communities in dealing with antisocial behaviour. Social housing providers are also key. This has to be about partnership working.

[Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD)]

I welcome the commitment to neighbourhood policing that will help Cheltenham fight its problems with graffiti and illegal e-bikes, but when I talk to my local police commissioner he warns me that he is expecting to have to work very hard to maintain the force’s current headcount because of budgetary pressures in the coming year. Can the Minister explain the apparent disconnect between the concerns of the commissioner locally and the Government’s statement today?

[Dame Diana Johnson]

I do not think anybody is pretending that we have inherited a positive, rosy economic settlement from the previous Government. We are having to make difficult decisions and tough choices. What is very clear is that the security and safety of the British people is the No. 1 issue for this Government, and that the Home Secretary—as I have now said, I think, three times—has already said there is additional funding for policing next year. Additional funding was put into police forces up and down the country this year to fund the pay increase to police officers, which had not been in the budget that the previous Government had set for this year. We have already put in additional money, and we will be doing so next year as well.