Antisocial Behaviour: Hertfordshire

Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—(Christian Wakeford.)2.34 pm

There are people in Hemel Hempstead who live in constant fear; people who are too scared to leave their homes, or who fear for their children’s safety. Those people are not statistics, they are not numbers; these are their lives. I wish to tell the House about someone called Tom—I have changed names and places for people’s safety. Tom served in the emergency services for 20 years, putting his life on the line for others. He served our community and kept us safe, yet now he is the one who lives in fear. Tom, who lives with his wife and four children, told me that he lives near a house that is used for drug dealing. Over 90 separate drug deals have been reported to the police and, thanks to his diligence, that is backed by hundreds of hours of CCTV footage and photos. Drug dealing is a serious crime, but in its wake comes a wave of other antisocial behaviour, with the constant, endless noise of people coming and going at all hours, the slamming of doors, shouting, scaring children, motorbikes flying up and down the road, and the incessant smell of noxious drugs. Needles and paraphernalia lie strewn around the area that Tom is proud of—the area he protected for 20 years. Is that what Tom deserves, after protecting our community for so long? Tom is not alone. Let me tell the House a story about Cassy—again, not her real name. Cassy has an eight-year-old son. He likes maths, football and playing outside. In recent months, however, he has been too scared to play outside, and even if he wasn’t, other children have also stopped venturing outdoors. Why is that? Because the communal garden where he once played his favourite sport lies littered with dog poo. People have tried to clean it up, but large, aggressive dogs let loose act as a deterrent to any community-minded people. The green space, once a makeshift football pitch, has turned into a place for people to smoke drugs, play loud music at all hours of the day, and shout abuse at any passerby. Cassy’s son, at just eight years old, lives in fear. Due to the ongoing stress, Cassy is on antidepressants and her husband Gary is in therapy. Their son is so fearful that he cannot sleep alone, scared that the thugs outside will make their way into their home. It is not just drugs and aggressive behaviour, because another constituent at one of my surgeries, Maria, told me of her case. She and her partner, child and neighbours have been dealing with an abusive, unsafe and disruptive resident since June 2023, who has been letting intoxicated people into their building and threatening violence. Rubbish is piled high and attracting rodents, with smashed windows and alleged arson—those are just some of the things that Maria and her family have had deal with. When considering Tom, Cassy, Gary and Maria, and the other 55 constituents who have written to me about this, as well as the others who are too scared to report their cases to me at all, there is a theme, but antisocial behaviour sits in a grey area. The hard-working police are often not resourced. The council often relays that it is a police matter, and housing associations are often limited in how they respond. Meanwhile, residents suffer.

I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate. As a neighbouring Member from Hertfordshire, I know that this is an important issue for our constituents. I recent surveyed high street businesses in my constituency, and they said that one of their biggest issues is antisocial behaviour. Does he agree that this issue also impacts our high streets and businesses?

I entirely agree, and I would point to some of the visits I have made to businesses in my constituency because, as the hon. Member will know, there are similar themes. It is a slightly different point, but I am grateful that this Government are planning to bring in new measures to crack down on shoplifting, which is also a big problem and often goes unpunished. Hemel Hempstead, my community, is in a tough position. In January 2024 we were the worst major town in Hertfordshire for antisocial behaviour, with more than 200 reported incidents. The town centre is one of the most dangerous towns in Hertfordshire. Local stakeholders told me just this morning that Dacorum has the highest number of vulnerable children at risk of exploitation from drug dealers and county lines in the county. The overall crime rate in 2023 was 95 crimes per 1,000 people. Damningly, between 2014 and 2024, the crime rate doubled. On the doorstep and at my surgeries, many Hemel residents have asked me why we are in this mess. I tell them that we had a Conservative Government and, until 2023, a Conservative borough council; we have a Conservative county council and Conservative police and crime commissioner, and we had a Conservative MP.

The hon. Member’s party has been in government for over six months now. What has changed in that time?

The hon. Member knows that I try to work with him locally in a constructive way, and I will in future, but the problems that we have in Hemel Hempstead are 14 years in the making. Some of them go back 20 years, because of long-standing issues. It is fair to point out that the people in charge of those issues at the time could have done more to help resolve them. He will know that I am trying to find solutions together and not point the finger or look backwards, but the numbers do not lie. It is impossible to ignore the indisputable fact that in the time that the Conservatives were in power—14 years nationally and longer locally—local crime has skyrocketed. They ignored anti-social behaviour, cut our police force by 20,000 officers nationally and took 60p out of every pound from local authorities. Objectively, that is why we are where we are. It is their mess, and people in my patch are the ones dealing with it. In the time that the Conservatives were in power, crime in Hemel doubled. I defy anyone to defend that record.

The hon. Gentleman is being generous in allowing me to intervene again. Similar to parts of my constituency, Hemel has great transport links. County lines is a relatively new phenomenon, and one of the downsides of our road and train network is that crime is coming out of London. Has he worked with the London Labour Mayor to address those issues?

I am doing everything I can to work with the Labour Mayor, but he is subject to the same national cuts in police numbers that we have seen elsewhere. We all have problems with police resources. As a candidate and again since my election to Parliament, I have been out with bobbies on the beat to see the issues that they face at first hand, as part of the Hertfordshire police ride-along scheme. After seeing them in action, I commend our police. I do not exaggerate when I say that they are heroes and heroines in our community. Thanks to the local police in Hertfordshire, we have seen some progress in tackling the plight of antisocial behaviour. I thank them again for their service. Operation Clear Hold Build in Grovehill and Operation Hotspot in the town centre have brought significant uplifts in patrols and prevention in both areas. PC Beresford and Sergeant Divney from the neighbourhood team have led the charge against antisocial behaviour from the front. They and their colleagues are an asset to their force. I also pay tribute to Hemel’s Chief Inspector Dave Skarratts. He has been exemplary in his role, and today happens to be his last day. I wish him well in his new role with Bedfordshire police. When tackling antisocial behaviour, the police are key, but they need tools and the resources to do their jobs. While many of us flee from an incident, they rush towards it; I ensure, in my conversations with the Police Federation, that they do so safe in the knowledge that they have the support they need and deserve. I have carried out an audit of the 55 cases that residents have reported to me so far. I have analysed them for themes, and one keeps emerging. Police are just one part of the jigsaw when it comes to tackling antisocial behaviour. There is a role to be played by local authorities and housing associations. In many instances, upstanding residents have gathered the information and evidence thoroughly, at their own risk and expense, and submitted it to the council or their housing association. However, in some cases they have seen no action. In some instances, the council has refused to re-add them to the housing list because they are adequately housed, yet it has not acted against the troublemakers nearby. In others, communication between police and council teams has been not consistent enough or, in some cases, completely absent. I have had reports of housing associations simply not replying to their residents. All Members of this House have a responsibility to do their bit to tackle this issue.

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is incumbent not just on us as Members of Parliament but on all constituents to work together to ensure that our young people growing up have positive role models around them in a community setting, so that they do not fall into a life of antisocial behaviour and they can see a way to get on in life?

I thank my hon. Friend for his point. I myself benefited from Hertfordshire youth services as a Member of the UK Youth Parliament, which is sadly something that has had to be pulled back by Hertfordshire county council because of cuts to youth services. That is just one example of the ways young people can be offered a chance to build their confidence and skills, and is partly why I am able to speak to hon. Members today. MPs have a duty to their constituents, the police and the many hard-working council officers who deal with antisocial behaviour, which is why I have made it a key priority. This week, I was lucky to have the opportunity to meet with the Minister for Policing, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham (Dame Diana Johnson), where I raised Hosking Court, Livingstone Walk, Swallowfields and other hotspots across our area. I have also pushed for Hemel Hempstead to be considered as part of the pilot for the new respect order, which will give police new powers to crack down on yobs and thugs with zero tolerance and with 100% focus on victims. I have been out with police for ride alongs, the purpose of which is to see at first hand what our officers are seeing and understand further the tools they need to do their job. I have had regular meetings with the chief inspector to understand the whole picture and raise residents’ concerns. I have also met the Police Federation reps, who are best placed to tell me about the strategic issues faced by officers. I will continue to do all that and more to support those on the frontline facing antisocial behaviour. I have spoken today of the harrowing accounts of some of my constituents. I have set out why we are in this mess—because of 14 years of dereliction of duty by the previous Conservative Administration. Now, I want to talk about the way in which Labour is working to fix the problems we have inherited. I very much welcome the new respect orders, which will give police and local councils the powers they need to ban persistent offenders, and I hope my patch will be picked to join the scheme when it is launched. I also welcome the action on boy racers, with Labour giving police stronger powers to seize vehicles involved in antisocial behaviour. The forthcoming policing and crime Bill, which will partially replace existing civil injunction powers for adults, will hit nuisance off-road bikes hard—another issue affecting my residents. I am particularly pleased to see enhanced powers to complement the Government’s commitment to restore neighbourhood policing in England and Wales. For too long, people in Hemel have been let down. The new Government are showing leadership and, as the new MP for Hemel Hempstead, I pledge today to do all I can to ensure that these national changes are felt locally.

14:48:00

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (David Taylor) on securing this important debate and on the work he is doing in his constituency. He has very clearly set out the impact of antisocial behaviour in the cases and stories he has narrated. He has also set out how, when antisocial behaviour is not dealt with, it can be an attraction for other types of crime, creating fear in our communities. The story of how children can pick that up was also well highlighted. He went on to highlight the Conservatives’ record over the past 14 years and the impact it has had on our neighbourhood policing. I am responding in today’s debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham (Dame Diana Johnson), who I am sure will be willing to pick up further on any issues with our hon. Friend. I know he has had a productive conversation with her very recently in which he raised these matters. My hon. Friend rightly referred to the lamentable record of the previous Government on these matters. Even after the previous Government belatedly sought to deal with and respond to the reduction in the overall number of officers that they presided over, policing has still not returned to our streets. There are still fewer police officers in neighbourhood teams. The proportion of the public who say they never see an officer on the beat has doubled, and the number of police community support officers has halved. It is little wonder, then, that the types of crime and conduct that neighbourhood policing used to tackle have soared, as my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead highlighted. Whether it happens in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire or anywhere else, antisocial behaviour is a blight on people and places. As MPs across the House will have seen in their constituencies, it affects communities in different ways and comes in different forms, but fundamentally this is about respect—respect for our laws and our expectations as a society, and respect for our fellow citizens. Those who lack that basic respect and behave antisocially have to be made to face the consequences of their actions. We need to send a message that we will not stand by while decent, law-abiding people suffer as a result of the selfishness of others. To deliver the change that the country needs, we need to restore a sense of local pride, and give people the confidence that they are safe and secure, whether they are at home, in their neighbourhoods or in public places. That is why the Government’s plan for change includes our safer streets mission, and it is why we have made stronger action to tackle antisocial behaviour a central part of that mission, with a particular emphasis on improving the police response alongside tougher powers to tackle perpetrators. My hon. Friend laid out some of the specific problems that his constituents have encountered. He will know that I cannot comment on particular cases, but I think it will be helpful for me to share more about the action we are taking more widely. The Government have committed to five core missions, which seek to address some of the fundamental challenges that society is facing over the next 10 years. The safer streets mission will halve violence against women and girls, halve knife crime, and restore confidence in policing and the criminal justice system. It is focused on addressing harm and confidence in parallel, by taking a whole-system approach. These are long-term aims, but the Government are already taking decisive first steps towards their delivery, including delivering thousands more neighbourhood policing roles and taking steps to tackle antisocial behaviour through new penalties for offenders. These ambitious aims will require a dedicated coalition of Government, public services, the private sector, charities, and the public themselves, to be successful. Neighbourhood police officers are at the forefront of the fight against antisocial behaviour. However, neighbourhood policing has declined to such an extent in the last decade that many of the bonds of trust and respect between the police and local communities have been lost. We are going to bring back neighbourhood policing and ensure that thousands of additional officers are out patrolling towns and communities as part of our mission to make streets safer. Neighbourhood policing sits at the heart of the British policing model, and it is a critical building block in helping communities feel safe. We are determined to restore confidence in policing to record levels and restore the vital connection between the police and the communities they serve. That is why we are also working with policing to implement a new neighbourhood policing guarantee, restoring patrols to town centres, recruiting thousands more personnel and ensuring that every community has a named officer to turn to. We recognise that no single agency can reduce antisocial behaviour alone, and that doing so requires that important partnership. For our part, the Government will ensure that the police, local authorities and other agencies have the powers they need to respond to antisocial behaviour. The powers in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 do not go far enough. We will put that right by introducing the respect order. Under the new measures, persistent adult perpetrators of antisocial behaviour will face tough restrictions, including bans on entering areas where they have behaved antisocially, such as town centres or other public places. Anyone found breaching a respect order, which my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead referred to, will face being arrested and could end up behind bars. We will pilot these measures initially, to ensure that they are as effective as possible, before rolling them out across England and Wales. These changes are long overdue. My hon. Friend mentioned the harm that drugs can do to communities. Tackling illegal drugs is key to delivering the Government’s mission. We know from the crime survey for England and Wales that people using or dealing drugs is commonly among the top three antisocial behaviour issues for people in their area. The police have a critical role to play in cracking down on drugs misuse and antisocial behaviour. We are working with the police to support and increase voluntary referrals into treatment. Diverting those who use illegal drugs into interventions such as drug treatment services is key to reducing drug misuse, drug-related crime and reoffending. We support the use of drug testing on arrest and out-of-court resolutions to ensure that individuals who commit drug and related offences are given the opportunity to change their behaviour by diverting them to meaningful and appropriate interventions. The hon. Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra) asked what is different since the Labour Government came into power. County lines is the most violent model of drugs supply and a harmful form of child criminal exploitation. Gangs exploit children and vulnerable adults to move and store drugs and money, often using coercion, intimidation, violence and weapons. Since July 2024, police activity through the county lines programme has resulted in over 400 county lines being closed and hundreds of arrests. Alongside that, the police have identified and referred over 800 children and vulnerable people for safeguarding and support, while over 200 young people have been supported by our specialist victim support services provided by Catch22. We will continue to provide dedicated support for children and young people to escape county lines and child exploitation. That goes hand in hand with our manifesto commitment to roll out further support through the young futures prevention partnerships, identifying at-risk children and young people and making better use of the existing youth services provision. The hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted (Victoria Collins) raised the important issue of retail crime. As the Home Secretary set out in her speech to the Labour party conference, the Government will introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect hard-working and dedicated staff. That is long overdue. We will also end the effective immunity for shop theft of goods under £200. Shop theft of any amount is illegal, and by repealing the relevant legislation we will ensure that everyone knows that. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead and all Members who have contributed to this important debate. Antisocial behaviour is clearly an issue of substantial concern in his constituency, as it is all over the country. We have to grip it and, through our safer streets mission, that is precisely what the Government intend to do. Question put and agreed to.

14:59:00