Bedfordshire's PPC starting to spend £1 million on improving community safety

£730,000 will go on tackling violence and against women and girls

Author: Charlotte Evans-YoungPublished 4th Aug 2022

Bedfordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is starting to use the £1 million in funding they've received from the Home Office to improve community safety.

This is the fourth round of funding that has been made available as part of the Safer Streets project.

£730,000 on tackling violence against women and girls

Bed's PCC will be spending around £730,000 on tackling violence against women and girls.

The money will go towards an education and awareness programme, bus stop advertisements and pamphlets, and an app.

Detective Chief Superintendent Dee Perkins said, "this Safer Streets funding gives us a fantastic opportunity to do more comprehensive work to raise awareness, change behaviour and encourage people to come forward.

“Things like misogyny and cat calling can be precursors to more serious behaviour, and they make women and girls feel unsafe. We must all call this kind of behaviour out and rid them from our communities.”

£294,000 on tackling anti-social behaviour

The rest of the money, just under £300,000, will be invested in tackling anti-social behaviour in Luton South.

Vicky Hawkes, Service Manager for Neighbourhood Services at Luton Council, said “this is great news for Luton. This funding will allow us to deliver interventions such as increased street lighting and additional CCTV, along with environmental changes (gating orders on alleyways, improvements to subways) and other crime reduction materials."

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Greatest Hits Radio app.