Batley and Spen MP Kim Leadbeater calls on government to support victims of anti-social behaviour

Speaking during a debate on the Victims and Prisoners Bill on Monday, May 15, Ms Leadbeater asked why the Bill - which aims to offer more support to the victims of crime - didn’t also address anti-social behaviour.

She said: “In Batley and Spen we have seen, as is the case in many other communities across the country, huge spikes in antisocial behaviour in recent years.

“Whether it is inconsiderate or dangerous parking, modified motorbikes screeching through neighbourhoods at all hours, abuse directed at bus drivers and shopkeepers, setting off fireworks or fires, the vandalising of community facilities or fly-tipping, all of which the government somehow treat as low-level nuisances.

“These are the things that are blighting our communities and terrifying residents.

“They are increasingly unaddressed and out of control, with little or no support for those affected.”

Kim Leadbeater went on to say: “Without treating antisocial behaviour with the seriousness it needs, our communities, including Batley and Spen, will continue to see the increase in lawlessness that is damaging our towns, villages and neighbourhoods.

“We cannot underestimate the impact of this so-called low-level activity. It damages property and terrifies people, and it means that residents feel afraid to walk their streets alone.

“They are certainly not seeing any justice that reassures them their neighbourhood is safe and, as my constituents tell me, there is nothing low level about that.”

Ms Leadbeater went on to argue that Tory cuts to police numbers had left the victims of anti-social behaviour vulnerable. She said: “I am very fortunate to have a strong working relationship with West Yorkshire police, and in particular the Batley and Spen neighbourhood policing team.

“Of the cases we discuss, the major barrier to ensuring that victims are supported and involved in the process and able to see justice being delivered is not legislation, but police time and resources.

“And let us remember that the new police officers that the government like to boast about barely replace the police officers we have lost over the last 13 years.

“So until we properly resource our police forces, this legislation will be unable to function in the way the government hope it will.”