Many Wycombe residents, understandably, remain concerned about crime, particularly anti-social behaviour and rural crime. I regularly speak to and work with our Conservative Party Police & Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber on local crime issues. Thanks to the concerted efforts of both the Government and Thames Valley Police, in the Thames Valley, incidents of burglary are down by 36% since 2019 while neighbourhood crime has also fallen by 14%.
The Government’s ambitious police recruitment drive has resulted in the hiring of over 20,000 additional police officers nationwide, with Thames Valley Police exceeding recruitment targets by a significant margin. Thames Valley Police have also used Safer Streets funding to tackle violence against women and girls; their work under the Conservative Police & Crime Commissioner to tackle serious violence and knife crime by focusing on early intervention to stop young people from being drawn into crime and violence alongside the proactive policing of hotspot locations, have led to a reduction of knife-enabled crime in Bucks by 28% over just the past 12 months. While there is still more to do, this is excellent work by Thames Valley Police.
Nationally, I was elected on the Conservative Party 2019 manifesto which pledged support for our police and criminal justice system with tougher sentences, and more powers to tackle knife and drug-related crime. This week, the Criminal Justice Bill passed through another parliamentary phase. It delivers on these promises.
The Criminal Justice Bill will introduce:
- New criminal offences relating to items used in serious crime, theft or fraud, such as 3D printer firearms templates, electronic devices for use in theft, SIM farms, knives and offensive weapons.
- The introduction of a broader offence for encouraging or assisting serious self-harm.
- New offences related to the taking of sexual images without consent.
- An expansion of police powers to seize bladed articles, and to search for and seize stolen goods.
- Powers for courts to order offenders to attend sentencing hearings and punish them if they do not attend.
- New aggravating factors will increase prison times for child sex offences where there is grooming, and of murder where it took place in connection with the end of a relationship with the victim.
- Amended powers to tackle anti-social behaviour including expanding the timeframe for which a dispersal order can be put in place, lowering the minimum age at which a Community Protection Notice can be imposed, extending powers to apply for a Public Space Protection Order, and increasing the upper limit of fixed penalty notices for breaches.
I know the scourge on our community that anti-social behaviour can be. The Government has also introduced the Anti-Social Behaviour Plan, which will implement a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of anti-social behaviour. As a result, £1.6m of funding has been secured for additional hotspot policing patrols to help tackle the issue in the Thames Valley. Alongside this, the Government is trialling an “Immediate Justice” scheme with a view to rolling it out more widely if it is successful. Under the new Immediate Justice scheme, those found committing anti-social behaviour will be made to repair the damage they inflicted on victims and communities, with the aim to foster a sense of responsibility and restitution.
Locally, I have always been committed to working with our wonderful police force and Police & Crime Commissioner to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour levels. Nationally, this Government has made clear that it will take the tough actions necessary to tackle these. Unfortunately, we have been met with continuous opposition from the Labour Party who, despite this, have presented no ideas and no serious plan to reduce crime levels.
If you would like to get in touch with me, please do contact me through steve.baker.mp@parliament.uk. If you would like my help with a particularly urgent issue, please phone my constituency office on 01494 448408.