More than £1 million of funding to tackle anti-social behaviour and Violence Against Women and Girls has been awarded to local authorities across the Avon and Somerset area.
With support from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), Bath & North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council, North Somerset Council and Somerset Council, successfully bid to the Home Office for Safer Street funding.
The Home Office will be awarding a total of £1,395,345.46, which will be distributed and match-funded by the local authorities.
Safer Streets is a Home Office fund that supports initiatives that tackle neighbourhood crime such as burglary, robbery, theft from a person and vehicle crime, reduces anti-social behaviour (ASB) incidents, changes attitudes and behaviours towards Violence Against Women and Girls in public places and improves the safety of public spaces for all.
The following interventions have been awarded funding:
- Bath & North East Somerset Council will receive £328,152.02 to tackle ASB and Violence Against Women and Girls. The work will be delivered in conjunction with Bath BID and Avon and Somerset Police with a particular focus on the city centre and surrounding public spaces.
Interventions include improved lighting and CCTV provisions to reduce crime and increase feelings of safety at night, as well as increasing the offer of youth outreach to support young people and divert them from offending. - Bristol City Council will receive £748,498.50 to tackle and prevent ASB in two hotspot areas in south Bristol. The main interventions are improving the lighting and CCTV provisions for the areas as well as increasing the offer of youth work and activities available.
The community in the target areas will also be able to take part in discussions and have the opportunity to suggest and, in some cases, run their own mini-projects that aim to prevent ASB. - Somerset Council and North Somerset Council will jointly receive £317,694.96 to continue with work focused on Violence Against Women and Girls. Interventions include digital and drama-based workshops for students in schools to raise awareness and change attitudes.
The project also includes an awareness campaign and other place-based interventions to improve feelings of safety within town centres.
PCC Mark Shelford said: “I am delighted that local authorities in the area have been awarded this additional Safer Street funding to support interventions tackling ASB and Violence Against Women and Girls.
“My first Police and Crime Plan priority is preventing and fighting crime so I am very supportive of the preventative interventions outlined in the bids, which include new activity as well as building on existing initiatives.
“Collaborative work must continue in order to make our public spaces safer for everyone – in particular women and girls – and I hope our local communities find this additional investment and future activity reassuring.”