Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to help tackle (a) anti-social behaviour and (b) drug use in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.

We will put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities so that residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.

​We will crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets by introducing tougher powers via a Crime and Policing Bill, including a new Respect Order to tackle repeat offending.

We know that drugs drive crime and cause harm to individuals and society. We will take action as part of our Safer Streets Mission to drive down crime and anti-social behaviour across the country, drawing on evidence for what works in identifying drug users and intervening effectively to change patterns of behaviour including, where appropriate, treatment and recovery services for those dependent on drugs. We will also give detailed consideration to the findings of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs’ forthcoming review of synthetic cathinones, sometimes referred to as ‘monkey dust’, which are a significant cause of anti-social behaviour and drug harms.