Plans to make people safe and feel safer on the streets of Nottinghamshire have been given a £3 million boost today.
The Safer Streets funding will pay for a range of crime prevention measures, including wardens who will patrol the streets, specialist burglary reduction officers, a greater CCTV camera network, better street lighting and training for people working in town centres at night-time to help them keep women and girls safe.
Nottinghamshire’s Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner submitted a total of four successful funding bids to the Home Office, each for £750,000, after working with partners, for projects across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
“It is incredible news for the people of Nottinghamshire because it will allow us to target a huge amount of additional resource to Make Notts Safe,” said Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry.
“This is the fourth round of Safer Streets funding and the biggest and most ambitious one yet for Nottinghamshire. It is also one of the biggest amounts handed out to any for the 43 police force areas across England and Wales.
“This money provides extra support and capacity on top of the fantastic work already being carried out every day by Nottinghamshire Police and our local authorities and third-sector partners to prevent and respond to crime and support victims and reduce reoffending.
“We have seen improvements in feelings of safety in each of the areas we have previously invested Safer Streets money, and I hope we can build on that momentum to ensure everyone can feel safe every time they step outside, right across Nottinghamshire.”
One of the new funding bids is for Nottingham city and will fund projects in the Arboretum, Radford and Park, and Bestwood.
Another bid is for South Nottinghamshire, with spending going into the Trent Bridge ward of Rushcliffe borough, Netherfield and Colwick in the Gedling borough, and the Eastwood South area of Broxtowe borough.
A third bid covers the Mansfield and Ashfield districts, with funding coming to Warsop and Kirkby-in-Ashfield.
And the final bid is for the districts of Bassetlaw and Newark and Sherwood, with projects planned in Worksop and the Castle ward of Newark.
It means all seven district and borough councils in Nottinghamshire and the unitary authority of Nottingham have received some Safer Streets funding, with Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry keen to ensure a fair distribution of public funding for safety measures in areas with an identified need.
“An absolutely huge amount of work has happened behind the scenes to make this funding bids a success. Working closely with each of our local authority partners, my Office and key partners have painstakingly put together first-class funding bids,” said Commissioner Henry.
“It follows the success in three previous rounds of Safer Streets funding, and the experience is clear in the fact that we have increased the sums of money coming to Nottinghamshire in every round of funding.”
The first Safer Streets programme brought £550,000 to Newark in 2020/21, followed by £914,000 for Nottingham city and Mansfield in the second round in 2021/22 and £1.1 million for Sutton-in-Ashfield and Worksop South in the last round, also in 2021/22.
“It is a phenomenal achievement to secure a whopping £3 million this time around,” said Commissioner Henry.
“This is another massive step forward in the delivery of the three priorities in our Make Notts Safe Plan - preventing crime and protecting people from harm, responding efficiently and effectively to community needs and supporting victims and survivors, witnesses and communities.”
The partners who worked closely with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner on the funding bids were Ashfield District Council, Bassetlaw District Council, Broxtowe Borough Council, Gedling Borough Council, Mansfield District Council, Newark & Sherwood District Council, Nottingham City Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council.
Chief Constable Craig Guildford, of Nottinghamshire Police, welcomed the funding, which will support the work carried out every day by the force to keep people safe and increase public confidence.
“The PCC, her staff and the force have worked hard to ensure that once again Nottingham and Nottinghamshire will benefit from Safer Streets funding to help us keep people safe and prevent crime.
“This further significant funding will be of huge benefit to a number of different areas across the force area which we have put forward following consultation with our local partners. I’m told it’s one of the largest amounts of funding in the country which is testament to all the collective effort which went it to produce these bids.”
Superintendent Claire Rukas, of Nottinghamshire Police, also welcomed the funding, which will support the work carried out every day by the force to keep people safe and increase public confidence.
“This is great news that Nottinghamshire is set to once again benefit from Safer Streets funding to help us prevent crime,” she said.
“This funding will be of huge benefit to the different areas across the county in making even more improvements to keeping people safe.
“Keeping people safe remains our top priority and this funding is a significant boost to the work we do on a daily basis to achieve that aim.”
Home Secretary, Priti Patel said: “It has been one year since I launched our dedicated violence against women and girls strategy and in that year I have overseen incredible work to support victims, prevent violence against women and girls, protect citizens and deliver justice.
“Our essential work with specialist groups is delivering practical support and change for women and girls across our communities and the Safer Streets Fund continues to make a difference to the safety of women and girls at a community level.”
The partner agencies who supported the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner with the bid all welcomed the news.
Cllr Helen-Ann Smith, Lead Executive Member for Community Safety and Crime Reduction at Ashfield District Council, said: “This is fantastic news for Ashfield. This is something we as a Council have worked extremely hard on and I’d like to thank Antonio Taylor and his Ashfield District Council Community Protection Team in particular for leading on the bid. The Ashfield Community Safety Partnership worked hard to secure this funding and have secured another incredible amount of money which will make a huge difference to the lives of residents in Kirkby.
“It is important that residents feel safe within the communities they live. This money will allow us to continue to tackle ongoing issues with violence against girls and women, vehicle crime, residential burglary, and anti-social behaviour on the Coxmoor Estate and the wider Kirkby community.
“With the first Safer Streets initiative in New Cross and Sutton, we have proved how this funding will change the area for the better. The Council, as part of the Ashfield Community Safety partnership is committed to continuing making Ashfield a safe place to live, work and visit.”
Cllr Julie Leigh, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods at Bassetlaw District Council, said: “We are delighted at the announcement from the Home Office that our bid for Worksop Town Centre has been successful. This funding will enable us to introduce a pilot scheme of Safer Street Wardens in the town centre. This work is a vital part of our priority to tackle Violence against Women and Girls and the public have told us that the extra presence will make them feel safer. It will also help tackle Anti-Social behaviour in the area.
“The success of this bid has been down to the hard work of a partnership team from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, the local Police Inspector and Bassetlaw District Council.”
Broxtowe Borough Council Chief Executive, Ruth Hyde OBE, said: “We are delighted with the success of our Safer Streets bid for Eastwood. The funding secured will enable us to introduce some much needed measures to prevent anti-social behaviour and enable people in the area to feel safer when they are out and about in the community.”
Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke MBE said: “We welcome the news that our joint bid with the South Notts Community Safety Partnership for the Safer Streets 4 Fund has been successful. We can now use this money to help with some of the council’s priorities around reducing anti-social behaviour in areas where it is highest, specifically around the Netherfield and Colwick area.
“I am sure that residents will welcome the news that more is being done to reduce crime where they live.
“We will use the funding to increase CCTV cameras in those areas, install more street lighting in areas where anti-social behaviour is high, increase Neighbourhood Warden patrols and do more to educate young people at risk of offending.
“This is a great example of local partners working together to get access to much-needed funding from central government so we can continue to serve people and improve lives in Gedling.”
Cllr Marion Bradshaw, Portfolio Holders for Safer Communities, Housing and Wellbeing at Mansfield District Council, said: “This new funding is really welcome news for the people of Warsop and will support the council in its priority to make sure this district is a safe place in which to live, work or visit.
“There are particular issues with certain public spaces in this part of our district that leave woman and girls feeling vulnerable which we hope, backed by this new funding, we will now be able to address in partnership with the police.”
Councillor Roger Jackson, Portfolio Holder for Cleaner, Safer, Greener at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “Teamwork is an integral part of creating a Cleaner, Safer, Greener Newark and Sherwood for us all to enjoy, and I’m pleased to be once again working with our Safer Streets partners to continue our investment in the safety and security of our community.
“The success we have seen from our previous Safer Streets projects has been encouraging and I am looking forward to seeing the progress we can make with this additional funding.”
Councillor Neghat Khan, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods, Safety and Inclusion at Nottingham City Council, said: “We are delighted that the City Central Safer Streets bid has been successful. This additional funding will enable partnership delivery of a range of measures designed to tackle acquisitive crime, anti-social behaviour, and improve the safety of women and girls in our city.
“It is targeted towards areas of the city which are disproportionately impacted by these issues, with Bestwood, Hyson Green and Arboretum, and Radford all benefitting from this particular round of funding.
“Our partnership can now build on work that was delivered during previous Safer Streets projects, ensuring continuity and longevity, and improving the city as a place to live, work and socialise.”
Councillor Rob Inglis, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Safety at Rushcliffe Borough Council, said: “We are delighted that the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner has been successful in gaining support from the Safer Streets 4 fund.
“Whilst Rushcliffe does not have the same demand on policing resources as other areas of the county, we appreciate the commitment to address higher levels of neighbourhood crime and antisocial behaviour in our Trent ward benefiting both residents and visitors to this popular area of Rushcliffe”.
Have you been a victim of burglary in Netherfield and Colwick, Trent Bridge Ward, Eastwood South, Top Valley, Arboretum, Bestwood or Kirkby-in-Ashfield?
Then the Safer Streets funding can help you. It means you can qualify for a risk assessment to get measures put in place to make sure your home will not be targeted again.
Depending on the findings of the risk assessment, your home could be fitted with security improvements including upgraded window and door locks, external security lighting and window alarms, Wi-Fi/4G CCTV and video doorbells, and repairs to doors, windows and fencing/gates if this would help to improve overall security.
These services are free of charge thanks to the Safer Streets Partnership. However, if you are eligible for 4G CCTV or video doorbells, there will be a small monthly subscription charge (£4pm to cover 4G data usage on 4G CCTV or £2.50pm for doorbell video history/saving).
The funding will go towards the following in your area:
- Free security upgrades including Ring doorbell devices at up to 200 residential properties including previous burglary victims and neighbouring properties.
- A dedicated Burglary Reduction Officer to liaise with burglary victims/neighbours to undertake risk assessments.
- A wide range of other preventative devices will be installed in key locations to prevent and detect crime (e.g. fixed CCTV). In addition, various educational and awareness raising initiatives will be undertaken.
- Extra policing hours undertaken and targeting of persistent offenders to keep residents safe.
Posted on Monday 25th July 2022