Council working on bid for more government funding to tackle anti-social behaviour

MP Penny Mordaunt wrote to the council earlier this month urging it to apply for a share of the fifth round of the Safer Streets Fund, saying recent increases in “mindless” vandalism and shoplifting was damaging the city’s communities.

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“There has been a marked increase in the reports we have been receiving about shoplifting…with many of the city’s convenience and independents stores being targeted,” she wrote.

“This is a difficult problem to solve and will require the police, council and others to work closely together. To this end I have been working with the police and crime commissioner [Donna Jones] for Hampshire to see what else can be done.”

She welcomed Ms Jones’ announcement of additional county-wide funding but urged the council to go further by making a bid through the fifth round of the Safer Streets Fund.

Home secretary Suella Braverman announced the latest, £60m, round of funding in July, describing it as “central” to the government’s Levelling Up work.

“We will build on the successes of the previous rounds through round five, which will continue to tackle anti-social behaviour, neighbourhood crime and help to combat violence against women and girls in public places,” she said.

Between June 2022 and May this year, the number of reports of shoplifting incidents in Portsmouth postcodes rose by 7.2 per cent and councillors have warned of an increase in anti-social behaviour.

Ms Mordaunt, the MP for Portsmouth North, said she had spoken to Hampshire police in recent weeks due to concerns around incidents in Cosham, Paulsgrove and Baffins.

She said: “It is welcome news that the Government has recognised that the scourge of anti-social behaviour has not gone away and continues to have a negative impact on communities, like those here in Portsmouth.

“Most recently I have heard from an optician who had hundreds of pounds worth of sunglasses stolen in just one incident. Convenience stores are routinely falling victim to the theft of alcohol and meat and damage is being done to our public spaces and leisure facilities.”

“These mindless acts of vandalism and shoplifting damage both the appearance of our communities and their economic well-being and we need to stop them.”