Anti-social Behaviour: East of England

[Derek Twigg in the Chair]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered anti-social behaviour in the East of England.

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. As we go about our daily lives—shopping, working, socialising or simply enjoying a quiet evening in our own home—nothing has the power to disturb our experiences like antisocial behaviour. It can make people’s lives a living hell. I am sure that my colleagues from across the east will have inboxes full of concerns raised by constituents over antisocial behaviour. It differs in its form depending on whether it is in rural or urban areas, but examples include: fly tipping; littering; loud music played at all hours; nuisance neighbours; uncontrolled animals; and the menace of off-road bikes.

Last year, the police recorded 1 million incidents of antisocial behaviour nationally. Estimates from the crime survey for England and Wales showed that 36% of people experienced or witnessed some type of antisocial behaviour in their local area. In Norfolk, my county, 8,800 incidents of ASB were recorded by the police between 2023 and 2024. The Library reports that from March 2023 to March 2024, 948 incidents of ASB were recorded in my constituency. I want to bring to life what that means for my constituents, because, as I have said, it takes many different forms.

Last year, our local paper, the Eastern Daily Press, reported that antisocial behaviour in Norfolk’s libraries had increased by almost 40%, with staff offered extra support to help deal with rising abuse from visitors. Last week, I held a meeting for residents on Britannia Road, who have been plagued by antisocial behaviour and speeding in their area for years. The imposition of a public space protection order has had little effect. I am determined to work with local councillors, the council and the police to finally get some resolution. One of my constituents has told me that antisocial behaviour in carparks has meant that public toilets are being permanently closed. Just a few days ago, the city council had to lock the gates of parks and cemeteries again overnight after antisocial behaviour and vandalism.

I commend the hon. Lady for securing the debate. I spoke to her beforehand, and the point that she is referring to concerns me as well. It is always saddening to hear about incidents of antisocial behaviour across the UK. Examples include alarming incidents of graffiti, destroying public spaces such as children’s parks and inappropriate drawings on children’s slides. Does the hon. Lady agree that there must be a better community police presence to take substantive action to ensure that parents do not have to worry about potential damage to park equipment and inappropriate graffiti that young ones may witness at a very early age?

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention and I totally agree. I will come on to the importance of a visible police presence later in my speech. As I said, the city councils have had to lock the gates of parks. Just today, the Feed cafe, a brilliant social enterprise in Waterloo Park in Norwich North, spoke out because it had suffered vandalism again. The manager said that they felt targeted and intimidated. They called for CCTV, which is something that the local council and I will back.

Derelict sites have also become hotspots for antisocial behaviour. Very sadly, a huge blaze broke out a few weeks ago at an empty shoe factory in Dibden Road. Seventeen fire crews had to attend from across the county. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but derelict sites such as this one are too often not properly secured.

In my constituency, I get regular reports of antisocial behaviour in Pleasurefair Meadow carpark and Stanham Way, relating to the screeching of tyres from motorbikes, loud music until the early hours of the morning and constant instances of drugs and antisocial drinking. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to take this sort of antisocial behaviour seriously wherever it is happening and that the local residents should not have to put up with it?

I completely agree. Sometimes antisocial behaviour can be dismissed as trivial incidents, but we all know that they are not trivial and that they cause a real disturbance to many of our residents. I also know that my constituents are continually frustrated by antisocial and inconsiderate parking. I am sure that other Members here also have issues raised with them on that, whether it is obstructing pavements or blocking driveways. Indeed, research by the British Parking Association in the last few years has revealed that this is one of the biggest frustrations British people experience in their daily lives.

I want to be clear that Norwich is a great place to live; indeed, we have seen communities rallying round to support each other after antisocial behaviour. But a small minority can cause misery for many, so I welcome the measures that the Government set out yesterday in the Crime and Policing Bill. I particularly welcome the new powers for police to seize vehicles causing havoc in our city centres, removing the prior need for a warning to be given. Recently, e-bikes and e-scooters have been subject to a police crackdown in Norwich, with 12 of them being seized in just one day.

The new respect orders will also give the police and local councils powers to ban persistent offenders from town centres or from drinking in public places, such as high streets and parks. That will make a real difference in areas such as Prince of Wales Road in Norwich. It is home to a lot of vibrant nightlife, but businesses there have often made complaints about antisocial behaviour. I hope the Minister can reassure us that for serious and persistent offenders who affect our constituents day after day, respect orders will indeed give authorities the powers they need.

Of course, many of these measures will only be effective if we have police on the streets to enforce them. I pay tribute to the police and police staff in Norwich and Norfolk, and across the country, who work really hard. That is why I welcome the Government’s commitment to recruit 13,000 extra neighbourhood police officers and police community support officers, with a named and contactable officer in every community. I have met many of the local officers in our area through safer neighbourhoods teams meetings and they work incredibly hard, but often they are stretched to cover the areas they are supposed to cover.

I thank my hon. Friend for allowing me to intervene.

In my constituency of Southend East and Rochford, we share many of the same issues that my hon. Friend is experiencing in her constituency in Norwich. We have a high street that needs to be reanimated and low levels of antisocial behaviour. Nevertheless, as my hon. Friend said of her community, there is also a great community in my constituency, so I wholeheartedly support what she is saying.

I also encourage people to visit Southend East and Rochford, because it is really important that communities are reanimated by people visiting the area and spending time in a community. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important that we create the conditions in our high streets, towns and city centres that enable them to thrive? And does she support the Government in their crackdown on crime?

I do agree and, as my hon. Friend will be aware, I recently visited Southend and saw what a vibrant community it is. I believe that the new measures will benefit not only the east of England as a whole but the entire country.

I will just conclude my point about police and police financing. As the Minister will be aware, the chief constable of Norfolk is also the national policing lead for finance, and he has raised a number of issues with me, including some no-cost ideas that could be explored to relieve pressure on the police, such as the flexibility for the police to recruit the right workforce mix. I hope that in her response to the debate, the Minister will speak about that issue and perhaps outline some of her conversations with the chief constable.

As I have said, Norwich is a wonderful place to live and we can all play our part in ensuring that our fine city stays that way. It is vital that the fight against antisocial behaviour is carried out at all levels. I welcome the work of Sarah Taylor, the excellent police and crime commissioner for Norfolk. I also welcome the work of Norwich City Council’s excellent Love Norwich campaign, which aims to tackle environmental antisocial behaviour, with a range of measures to tackle fly-tipping, littering and graffiti.

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way on that point about councils. In my area, Central Bedfordshire Council has just decided to remove all of its safer neighbourhood officers. The chief constable has said that there will be increased risks to the public because of that. These are uniformed people who go around our streets handing out fixed penalty notices for littering, looking at graffiti and generally making members of the community feel safer. Both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives in the council voted against an amendment to keep such officers in place. Does my hon. Friend agree that councils have a duty to make sure that they crack down on low-level antisocial behaviour, and that if they do not do so, there will be a real knock-on effect on local people?

I totally agree. As I said, action needs to be taken at all levels, including central Government, local government and in communities, which do brilliant work. The Love Norwich campaign also includes a grant scheme where communities can apply for up to £2,500 to enhance and open all communal space near them. This is the best of our society in action.

I am sure we have all seen litter-picks led by local volunteers in action in our areas, which see people come together to keep our areas clean, safe and welcoming for all residents. I also welcome the investment of our Labour-led city council in new security doors, including at St James Close in Norwich North. Many of my constituents have told me that unrestricted access can contribute to long-running antisocial behaviour issues. Of course, we want to prevent those issues in the first place, but it is a good example of a local council responding to what it is hearing from local communities.

I will conclude with this message: antisocial behaviour is a blight on all our communities. It cannot and will not be tolerated. I applaud the Government’s efforts in taking actions to tackle it and to put more police on our streets, but there is still a long way to go. I know that the Government will continue to do everything they can to tackle the scourge of antisocial behaviour in all its forms.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I congratulate the hon. Member for Norwich North (Alice Macdonald) on securing this important debate this afternoon. Some antisocial behaviour problems can be extremely localised down a single street, in a block of flats or between neighbours, ruining the lives of individuals targeted but sometimes going unnoticed by the wider community.

In recent months, many constituents have written to me and asked for help in dealing with antisocial behaviour problems caused by their neighbours in housing association properties. Research found that those living in housing associations are up to 30% more likely to experience criminal or inconsiderate antisocial behaviour compared with those who own their own property. That sort of behaviour ruins lives, and when it is happening in the vicinity of our own homes, there is often no escape.

The situation is made even worse when the victim is vulnerable due to their age or a medical condition. Sadly, it is far too common for me to hear that housing associations responsible are failing to take this issue seriously. As I have said before in the House, it is clear that, as well as the police, housing associations must play a full role in dealing with antisocial behaviour. While I welcome the Government’s rhetoric on tackling the scourge within our communities, it remains to be seen whether their new respect orders will be fully utilised by housing association providers. From my experience, they are not always interested in hearing about antisocial behaviour problems in the first place.

Previously in the House, I was told that

“existing civil injunctions will be renamed as housing injunctions, which will deal with that more low-level antisocial behaviour between neighbours.”—[Official Report, 27 November 2024; Vol. 757, c. 799.]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Alice Macdonald) for securing this debate on an issue of deep importance to our constituents. I start by acknowledging that Hertford and Stortford is a fantastic place to live, work and learn. My parents moved to Hertford in the late 1990s because they wanted the best start in life for me, and growing up I was lucky enough to benefit from the diverse offering of opportunity in our semi-rural community.

Our residents are deeply proud of our towns and villages and want our local area to thrive, but too often, instances of antisocial behaviour cause huge disruption to their lives and blight our communities. In the year ending March 2024, there were just over 2,000 incidents of antisocial behaviour in Hertford and Stortford. Those are not simply statistics. Each incident leaves residents who feel less secure on their way home from work, in our town centres, or even in their own home at night. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the work being done by police in our community. I am pleased that tackling retail crime and antisocial behaviour in Sawbridgeworth is a priority for the police, with extra patrols and public appeals to identify perpetrators. Likewise, I welcome the use of regular speed checks on Hadham Road in Bishop’s Stortford to tackle antisocial and dangerous driving, with one driver issued with a traffic offence report after he was caught speeding at 54 mph in a 30 mph zone.

Does the hon. Member agree that when police set up patrols to catch people who speed, the news quickly gets on to apps to tell people coming down the road that there is a policeman standing there with a speed gun? Does he think the Government should explore whether to ban apps that do that, so that we can catch people who speed on our roads?

I thank the hon. Member for raising that interesting point, which I will certainly consider. It is important that we tackle antisocial driving and speeding. We have a specific incident spot on West Street in Hertford, where residents have been campaigning to deal with antisocial driving and speeding not just since I was a councillor there a year ago, but for the past 25 years. I am sure Members will not mind me pointing out that that is longer than I have been alive.

We know that antisocial behaviour takes many forms, often going hand in hand with crime, and that means that our police have to fight on multiple fronts, but they will always have my support when they take positive steps to tackle antisocial behaviour in our community. We know there is more to do, and I welcome this Labour Government’s commitment to cracking down on the antisocial behaviour that blights our communities, including through the tough new measures in the Crime and Policing Bill. Residents regularly disturbed by e-scooters and off-road bikes misused on our streets will welcome the removal of the requirement for police to issue a warning before seizing vehicles associated with antisocial behaviour.

Ours must also be a Government who tackle antisocial behaviour at its roots, so in the time I have remaining I shall talk about antisocial behaviour among young people. Too often in semi-rural communities like mine, young people are driven to antisocial behaviour by lack of provision and support. The famous image of the loitering youth only exists because there is so rarely anywhere else for them to go, such was the decimation of youth services under the watch of the previous Government for 14 years.

I pay tribute to the work of the charities and voluntary organisations filling gaps in youth services in our community, particularly the Thirst Youth Café in Bishop’s Stortford and FUTUREhope in Hertford, where I once volunteered. Their work not only deters young people from antisocial behaviour and the more serious crime it acts as a doorway to, but builds their confidence, so that they can find the path that is right for them and contribute positively to our community.

I am listening to what the hon. Gentleman says about the groups helping to give young people an opportunity to do something. Does he have in his constituency, as I have in mine, churches that reach out to help? For example, in Newtownards, the Salvation Army is developing a new centre. Those sorts of outreach efforts that people are doing individually and voluntarily will make a big difference. Does he agree?

Absolutely. The groups I mentioned are supported by local churchgoers and religious groups in our community. I pay tribute to them, not least because I was supported by youth services as a young person. I would not be standing here as the Member of Parliament for Hertford and Stortford without them.

I am looking forward to engaging in coming months with young people and local service providers in our community, to ensure that they can contribute directly as the Department for Culture, Media and Sport develops the exciting new national youth strategy.

On that point, I shall be grateful if the Minister outlines how the Home Office is working across Government to ensure that tackling antisocial behaviour and crime prevention are wired into the national youth strategy. Also, how will the Home Office work with policing teams in semi-rural communities such as mine to continue to crack down on antisocial behaviour?