Thames Valley crime prevention initiatives get new funding

Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber said the force received the maximum amount of funding available

About £1m from a government scheme has been made available to set up crime prevention measures in the Thames Valley.

The successful bid from the Safer Streets Fund means extra spending for initiatives in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire.

Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Matthew Barber said he was "pleased" to receive the "maximum amount available" in the latest round of allocations.

Safer Streets was launched in 2020.

It means PCCs are invited to submit up to three proposals for their areas which are then assessed by the Home Office.

It is generally used to tackle neighbourhood and rural crime, violence against women and girls, and anti-social behaviour.

Funding is going towards tackling rural crime

The Nightingales Estate in Newbury, West Berkshire, is receiving £299,000.

Some of it will go towards new CCTV cameras, outreach youth work, community clean up days, school workshops and activities for young people.

West Oxfordshire, South Oxfordshire and the Vale of the White Horse are receiving £201,000 which will partly go towards recruiting a rural crime advisor.

Initiatives to tackle violence against women and girls in Slough, High Wycombe and Oxford will receive £500,000.

They include deploying specialist police to identify predatory behaviour on nights out and increasing the number of Street Angels, who patrol town and city centres to support vulnerable people.

A schools-based "attitudinal/behaviour change programme" will also be created.

Mr Barber said: "Anti-social behaviour, neighbourhood crime and violence against women and girls can have a significant impact on the extent to which residents feel safe in their communities, and these initiatives have the potential to make a real difference.

"The success of these three bids means that Safer Streets funding has reached every local policing area in Thames Valley since the fund opened in 2020.

"I look forward to seeing the impact of these latest interventions in tackling these important issues."

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