Southport MP Damien Moore has welcomed the announcement that Merseyside Police will receive £549,700 in extra funding as part of the Government’s £25 million Safer Streets Fund – delivering on a key Conservative manifesto commitment.

The Safer Streets Fund forms part of the Government’s concerted action to tackle crime, and aims to stop offences that blight communities and cause misery to victims from happening in the first place.

The extra funding will be aimed at improving security in areas particularly affected by acquisitive crimes such as burglary, vehicle theft and robbery.

These offences are the crimes that the public are most likely to encounter, and they are estimated to cost society billions of pounds every year.

The £549,700 of new funding will go towards measures proven to cut crime. These include simple changes to the design of streets such as locked gates around alleyways, increased street-lighting and the installation of CCTV.

The funding will also be used to train community wardens, deliver local crime prevention advice to residents and establish Neighbourhood Watch schemes.

Police and Crime Commissioners were invited to bid for a share of the £25 million Safer Streets Fund in January, with each project eligible for a grant of up to £550,000.

Bids were evaluated against a set criteria and bidders were asked to outline a plan to reduce crime within a local crime hotspot, demonstrating value for money, evidence of community engagement and long-term sustainability.

This additional funding comes alongside the Government’s commitment to recruit 20,000 additional police officers over the next three years, and the £1.1 billion funding boost for the policing system for 2020-21.

Southport MP Damien Moore said: “This Government was elected on the promise to crack down on crime and make our streets safer, and the £549,700 announced today for Merseyside Police will help deliver that.“This new money will help fund proven crime cutting measures, such as increased street lighting, CCTV and locked gates around alleyways – and I am confident that this will prevent and reduce crimes such as burglary and robbery in the areas that need it most.

“I want people everywhere to feel secure in their communities and be able to live their lives free from the threat of crime, and this extra funding for Merseyside Police will help make that possible.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “I will not stand by while criminals inflict fear and misery on our communities.“That is why I set up this fund to ensure we are doing all we can to prevent people falling victim to these crimes.”

"Merseyside Police will receive £549,700 in extra funding as part of the Government’s £25 million Safer Streets Fund – delivering on a key Conservative manifesto commitment.
…"Police and Crime Commissioners were invited to bid for a share of the £25 million Safer Streets Fund in January, with each project eligible for a grant of up to £550,000."

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Too many MPs, our Damien included, support measures to contain and restrain local government. Requiring locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners to bid for funding is an aspect of central control. The fact that we have 'Police and Crime Commissioners' indicates that centralizing control is the preferred policy of Labour as well as Conservative governments. Whatever leading politicians may say while in opposition, central government distrusts municipal governments' autonomy and craves control from the centre.

If Damien Moore ever hopes to get my vote, he will have to become an advocate for responsive, democratically accountable local government and consequently financial self-sufficiency and autonomy. While it is true that reforming the local institutions is necessary, that does not excuse our MP from complicity in our overly centralized government.