I’m pleased that Kent will be benefiting from a new £25 million scheme to keep our streets safe.

The Safer Streets Fund is part of the Government’s work to tackle crime, and aims to stop offences that blight communities and cause misery to victims.

Kent Police are due to receive £111,000 from this Fund to help prevent crime in known trouble spots in our communities. 

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

These offences are the crimes that people are most likely to encounter, and they are estimated to cost society billions of pounds every year.

The £111,000 of 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.

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