What is the Safer Streets Fund?
The Safer Streets Fund was launched by the Government in 2020, which has since then invested £120 million through four rounds of funding to provide reassurance to all and ensure the safety of public spaces. The tragic killing of Sarah Everard on 3rd March 2021 brought to the forefront concerns about women and girls' safety in public places. This money is given to local authorities, police forces, British Transport Police and eligible community groups to prevent violence against women and girls in public, neighbourhood crime and anti-social behaviour.
The funding seeks to:
- Reduce violence against women and girls and increase women and girls' feelings of safety in public spaces
- Build the evidence base for what works on reducing violence against women and girls crimes therefore increasing feelings of safety in public areas
- Improve both the national and local recording/reporting regarding violence against women and girls in public spaces
- Make public spaces safer for all
Stratford-on-Avon District Council has installed five new CCTV cameras in and around Stratford-upon-Avon as part of the Home Office Safer Streets Scheme. The scheme allows police forces and local authorities to invest in transformative crime prevention initiatives including additional CCTV, lighting and behaviour-based programmes.
The cameras are mobile, so they can be easily and rapidly deployed to key locations. The locations are chosen based on reports and concerns raised by residents around crime and anti-social behaviour. The cameras were initially deployed in five locations: The Waterside Service Area between Bridge Street, High Street and Sheep Street Waterside covering the busy area by the RSC Drayton Avenue near Holly Walk Hodgson Road Clopton Road
The five cameras directly feed into the CCTV service run by Stratford-on-Avon District Council. The CCTV monitoring service operates 24/7 and provides real-time assistance to police and officers when responding to a live incident. CCTV operators are in constant contact with the police and local partners so that response can be quick and effective, by directing police resources to live events and providing a visual understanding of what's happening on the ground. The CCTV service also provides high quality evidence to be used in judicial proceedings leading to convictions.
The District Council has previously benefited from Safer Streets Funding, using it to install cameras by Stratford-upon-Avon train station, the Recreation Ground and by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Since being installed in September of 2023, the CCTV cameras have already assisted partners to gather evidence in a number of incidents which has resulted in the arrest of individuals and criminal charges being brought. They have been used by operators proactively over 2,495 times.
Further information about the Safer Streets Fund can be found here.