MP backs tough new action to tackle anti-social behaviour

* Becky Gittins MP.

Clwyd East MP Becky Gittins has backed tough new action on antisocial behaviour and town centre crime as new Crime and Policing Bill is launched. 

The UK Government has just introduced a raft of measures, including new Respect Orders and action against shoplifting, as part of its flagship Crime and Policing Bill.

 

Respect Orders will enable swift enforcement against persistent antisocial behaviour offenders.

 

The Orders come as new data shows that North Wales failed to hand out a single Penalty Notice for Disorder for ASB in 2023 – down from over 1800 in 2010.

 

The new legislation also includes action on shoplifting, including introducing a new offence of assaulting a retail worker. The Bill will scrap a law which deprioritised the theft of goods under £200. Statistics show there last year there were 90 incidences of shoplifting per week last year in North Wales.

 

The Bill will also give the police new powers to enter premises without a warrant, enabling the police to search and seize stolen property swiftly which they believe is at an address.

 

This action comes as the number of snatch thefts last year reached 85,000 across England and Wales.

 

The new measures will be supported by the government’s plan to recruit 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles over the course of this Parliament.

 

Becky Gittins said: “People in our towns and neighbourhoods across Clwyd East are rightly concerned about anti-social behaviour and I am delighted that action is being taken.

 

“This is an area of policing that has been deprioritised for too long.  Antisocial behaviour chips away at our communities’ confidence and pride, undermines local businesses and can have a devastating impact on victims.

 

“This package of measures, including the introduction of tough new Respect Orders, and Government action on shoplifting, cannot come soon enough. The Crime and Policing Bill is a vital step towards the safer streets promised in this Government’s Plan for Change."