Bim Afolami MP, Member of Parliament for Hitchin & Harpenden, has welcomed the news that Hertfordshire will receive £1.4m from the Conservative Government to tackle neighbourhood crime, violence against women and girls and anti-social behaviour.
The funding, awarded from the fifth round of the Government’s Safer Streets Fund, will go towards projects chosen by the Police & Crime Commissioner, David Lloyd. It builds on around £1.5m of funding given to the county in previous rounds of the Fund and comes after the Prime Minister announced a new plan to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Other measures so far unveiled include increased police presence in high crime areas; higher fines for littering, graffiti and fly-tipping; and a ban on nitrous oxide.
Bim Afolami MP said,
“Thanks to hard work by the Conservative Government and Hertfordshire’s Conservative Police & Crime Commissioner David Lloyd, we now have record numbers of police officers on our streets – tackling local crime and keeping people safe. And we are starting to reap the rewards, with new stats recently released showing that crime is down 13% across the county since 2019.
“This new funding will help in our efforts to make Hitchin, Harpenden and the villages even safer places to live. I look forward to seeing how it benefits people in our communities.”
David Lloyd, Hertfordshire Police & Crime Commissioner said,
“Because the Government has delivered on its manifesto pledge to recruit an extra 20,000 officers, Hertfordshire has more police officers than ever before. The benefits of this are seen on a daily basis with crimes such as burglary down by almost a half over the last four years. This new funding will be used to tackle those crimes that the public want the police to tackle – including anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls. Hertfordshire is, and will remain, one of the safest places to live in the country.”
