£2.4 million funding to fight South Yorkshire anti-social behaviour welcomed

The Home Office has announced that South Yorkshire is to receive extra funding to tackle anti-social behaviour.

South Yorkshire is one of ten police force areas identified as a pilot force for delivering initiatives set out in the government’s ASB Action Plan.

The money will be provided to police and crime commissioners to spend on initiatives to reduce and tackle ASB in their areas.

It will be provided over the next two years with £1.2 million to be spent in 2023/24 and a further £1.2 million in 2024/25.

Dr Billings (pictured, South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner, said: “We have seen increased concerns around certain types of ASB in South Yorkshire in recent years.

“That is why one of the three priorities within my Police and Crime Plan is tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.

“Whenever I go to community meetings, people invariably want to talk about ASB as much as, if not more than, crime.

“It is the relentless nature of ASB that gets people down and the sheer amount of resource needed to deal effectively with it.

“This funding is very welcome and will help us to do more in order to tackle ASB, which we know causes harm and anxiety within communities and businesses.

“I expect to see, as a minimum, more patrolling by police in ASB hot spots, especially in the evenings. I also want to see the police telling communities and victims of ASB what they are doing, to reassure them.

“Some types of ASB are matters for the local authority and others as much as the police, which is why we must all work together.

“I will be working closely with the Chief Constable and the community safety partnerships within all four districts in the coming weeks to determine how this money can be best spent to reduce levels of ASB and to make people feel safer.”

Details of the Government’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan can be seen here.