Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to help ensure ensure that public parks in Newham are safe for children during the hours when children travel home from school.

Policing of parks in Newham is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police Service. Multi-agency partners, including the Metropolitan Police Service receives over £22.5m in funds to tackle serious violence in London. This includes funds for the Violence Reduction Unit which delivers a multi-agency partnerships to lead the local response to reducing violence, with a focus on long-term prevention.

To date, £3.2 million has been awarded through all rounds of the Safer Streets Fund to local projects across London. This includes just over £1.5 million in funding through the current fourth round for projects targeting anti-social behaviour, as well as neighbourhood crime and violence against women and girls. Interventions funded have included the installation of additional CCTV, streetlighting and alleygating. The Mayor for Policing and Crime in London and the City of London Police Authority board have both been allocated £2m in total through the latest fifth round of the fund to support delivery of a range of interventions focused on VAWG, ASB and Neighbourhood Crime.