Worthing is introducing a Street Pastor scheme where Christians in high visibility jackets patrol the streets after dark. There is concern about the vulnerability of young people coming home from night clubs after a 23-year-old was electrocuted after falling on a live rail after being ejected from a club. The initiative is being championed by […]
The anti-police bandwagon brigade ignores the bravery, hardwork and dedication-to-duty of London’s finest, says London Assembly member, Brian Coleman. I have a lot of respect for the Police. I have met numerous police officers over the years and without fail they have been honest, decent people doing their best to keep us safe in often […]
Glyn Gaskarth, of the Local Government Information Unit, says local councils should be given more power to tackle crime. Last week saw the first parliamentary oral evidence session for the new All Party Parliamentary Local Government Group inquiry into Justice in Communities. The inquiry, coordinated by the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU), is developing recommendations […]
Conservative-run Hampshire County Council have deployed eight Aberdeen Angus cows on a playing field resulting in a drop in anti social behaviour. So far as I can understand the Monks Brook playing fields are not currently being used for football – otherwise the cows would get in the way, wouldn't they? So the presence of the […]
Cllr Phil Briscoe, a Conservative opposition councillor on Labour-run Tower Hamlets Council has been making urgent enquiries over the following press release from the Quilliam Foundation, an organisation set up to counter Islamic extremism. On the weekend of 11-12 April the Brady Arts Centre, a community centre in East London that is funded and run […]
Shadow Justice Minister David Burrowes MP gave a speech on Thursday on youth justice. The Telegraph reported his general ambition to see fewer young people in prison but that those people should serve longer sentences, so aiding rehabilitation. David Burrowes also looked at the very different rates of young people being put in custody. Why, […]
The Policy Exchange think tank latest report Choosing Our Friends Wisely: Criteria for engagement with Muslim groups, has huge relevance for local councils. Is money provided by the Government's Preventing Violent Extremism programme, at least £90 million over three years, going to the right people? The report concludes it is often making matters worse. A […]
Cllr Robert Fraser, a Conservative member of Leicestershire County Council, is being investigated by Leicestershire police after he was reported for an alleged "hate crime." This is over remarks he made at a public meeting to discuss a proposed travellers site. The meeting was filmed, without his knowledge, and his remarks placed on YouTube. In […]
Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers Alliance says councils should avoid spending money on surveillance It is a truth self evident that we live in an increasingly Big Brother society. With a Government seemingly obsessed with gathering as much data as possible on individuals, we are beset by ID cards, DNA databases, health snoopers and CCTV […]
The Sustainable Communities Act might prove rather more exciting than it sounds. First introduced as a Private Members Bill by the Tory MP Nick Hurd, among other things it offers Councils the power to take back the precept they pay to the police and use it to operate the policing themselves. It contains the sort […]
The Standards Board have upheld a formal complaint over the behaviour of a Lib Dem councillor in Cambridge Cllr Colin Rosenstiel. It is a criminal offence to block the path of an emergency vehicle so he has got off lightly given that no charges have been brought. But why have the Lib Dems not thrown […]
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is threatening to sue over 100 local councils for failing to meet their legal requirement to provide a refuge for women suffering from domestic violence. Most of the Councils failing to provide such services are in the east Midlands, the east of England and the south east. There is […]
As Shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin argued that a "quantum leap" was needed in drug rehabilitation if crime was to be defeated. He suggested that those arrested and found to be drug addicts which be forced to undergo such treatment or face imprisonment – which Letwin argued was a tougher rather than softer policy than […]
Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers Alliance laments the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith backing away from democratic local accountability for the police. It was disappointing to see Jacqui Smith abandon her plans to introduce direct elections to Police Authorities this week. The proposals were not only radical but an exciting breath of fresh, localising air from […]
Cllr Edward Lister, the leader of Wandsworth Council, on a success story in tackling anti social behaviour. A Labour government that has never been afraid to legislate over just about every aspect of daily life has been curiously inactive on the modern fad for using certain breeds of dog as macho status symbols. If you’re […]