£1.2million extra government funding to crack down on burglary and theft in South West crime hotspots

Three police forces in the South West are to receive extra funding as part of the government’s £25million Safer Streets Fund – delivering on a key Conservative manifesto commitment.

Avon and Somerset will receive £400,000, Devon and Cornwall £546,781 and Dorset £266,357 – a total of £1,213,138.

The Safer Streets Fund forms part of the government’s concerted action to tackle crime.

It aims to stop offences that blight communities and cause misery to victims from happening in the first place.

The extra funding will be aimed at improving security in areas particularly affected by acquisitive crimes such as burglary, vehicle theft and robbery.

These offences are the crimes the public are most likely to encounter and are estimated to cost society billions of pounds every year.

The new funding will go towards measures proven to cut crime. These include simple changes to the design of streets such as locked gates around alleyways, increased street-lighting and the installation of CCTV.

The funding will also be used to train community wardens, deliver local crime prevention advice to residents and establish Neighbourhood Watch schemes.

Police and Crime Commissioners were invited to bid for a share of the £25million Safer Streets Fund in January, with each project eligible for a grant of up to £550,000.

Bids were evaluated against a set criteria and bidders were asked to outline a plan to reduce crime within a local crime hotspot, demonstrating value for money, evidence of community engagement and long-term sustainability.

This additional funding comes alongside the government’s commitment to recruit 20,000 additional police officers over the next three years, and the £1.1billion funding boost for the policing system for 2020-21.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “I will not stand by while criminals inflict fear and misery on our communities.

“That is why I set up this fund to ensure we are doing all we can to prevent people falling victim to these crimes.”