Crime in City Centres

The United Kingdom boasts a fantastic array of cities, each of which has a unique character and appeal. In order to thrive, our city centres must be safe. That is why this Government are putting policing back on the beat and bringing in stronger powers to crack down on shop theft and antisocial behaviour.

I was pleased to see Newport city council announce last week £300,000 for new CCTV in our city centre, and I commend the work of trading standards, whose efforts have seized almost £2 million of illegal cigarettes and vapes. While trading standards and the police are working really hard to tackle this issue, the time-limited nature of shop closure orders means that the shops often quickly reopen. What more can the Government do to strengthen powers to stop this?

I welcome the actions in Newport city; it is good to hear. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will strengthen enforcement and crack down on rogue retailers, and a raft of other measures in the Bill will crack down on these pernicious crimes. I look forward to talking more with my hon. Friend about this.

Sometimes crime wears a suit, as happened in Brechin in my constituency, where Mackie Motors had equity in their vehicles stolen by a French bank based in London. Then, through mendacity or incompetence or both, the bank turned off the oxygen for that business of 50 years. I have met with Home Office and Treasury Ministers to try to get around this. My constituent has been to the Financial Conduct Authority, who told them to go to the police, who then told them to go back to the FCA, who then told them to go to Citizens Advice—you could not make this cluster-fankle up. Is it not the case that in the UK today, if a small or medium-sized enterprise is in dispute with a bank, the FCA will demonstrate that it is neither use nor ornament?

I cannot comment on the specific details, as I am not aware of that case, but I am very happy to have a conversation with the hon. Member. Some SMEs in my constituency have had similar issues, so I am very happy to take that forward.