Dr Ashok Kumar

Labour Party | Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland

Raising hope

Can I thank you all – and especially Mayor Ray Mallon - for inviting me here today.

Today is a celebration of the "Raising Hope" initiative, one year on from its launch by Mayor Mallon.

I want to show my support for Mayor Mallon, and his vision for a town free from fear and crime.

Which is also the vision of my party and the government

I want to speak about how the government have helped this vision to become reality.

Through funding of crime and disorder initiatives and programmes

And through financial support to see that towns like Middlesbrough have the resources to fight crime and disorder.

The phrase 'Raising Hope' means just that.

Raising hope in the minds of the ordinary citizen of Middlesbrough.

The man and woman in the street.

And on the estates.

Raising hope that the ills and evils that they have had to endure.

Enduring – for example;

• Drug fuelled crime
• Robbery
• Sexual assault
• Intimidation
• Anti-social behaviour
• Foul Language
• Vandalism

These, I believe, are ills and evils are now being tackled and eradicated.

And that the environment which allowed those ills and evils to flourish is also being eradicated.

The old environment of dirty streets.

Of poor street lighting.

Of alcohol being easily available to underage youths.

Or which saw drugs traded openly on street corners or in bars.

And where an after-dark knock on the door or window gave rise to fear and apprehension.

That environment is now being tackled by mobilising all of the Borough Council's resources to see that people no longer have to live in fear.

And these resources have come from government

Raising Hope should be a model for other local authorities across Britain.

And, I believe, a model that they should now seek to emulate.

It is a model that can show that proper co-ordination between a local council and local police force can work.

That they have the same mission and the same objectives.

That they are not sealed in separate worlds, co-operating only by way of glossy strategy documents, but not working together on the ground.

Here, in Middlesbrough, that co-operation is real.

We see the sharing of experience.

We see the sharing of resources.

And we see the sharing of the raw material of crime fighting – intelligence.

The kind of intelligence that can inform the housing officer or the street cleaner that a new face on the block may be someone intent on mischief – or much worse.

The kind of intelligence that can lead to rapid deployment of wardens and police in 'hot spots'.

The kind of intelligence that prioritises areas suffering from crime, 'dodgy' door to door selling or vandalism.

The kind of intelligence that can allow the Borough's Street Wardens to take effective action.

Action which can see them working hand in hand with the bobby on the beat or with the officer in a rapid response car.

This is intelligence gained from a vast range of sources.

From direct old fashioned policing – and knowing your beat.

From the knowledge which a lifetime in public service can bring about the area of the town for which that person is responsible.

From intelligence from the network of CCTV cameras that is now covering the town, and monitoring the town 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It partners other priorities;

• The priority to see that everyone is adequately housed.
• The priority to see that streets are kept clean.
• And that graffiti is removed from walls and street furniture as soon as it appears.
• That schools instil civic values and the need to be considerate to fellow citizens.
• That racial intolerance is not condoned.
• And that streets and walkways are well lit.
• And that 'designing out crime' is central to the planning of every new development in the town.

As I said, such a holistic response is a first for Middlesbrough.

I want to thank Mayor Mallon for bringing his vision to this programme

And the dedication of the staff of the Middlesbrough Council departments involved in this work

I also want to pay tribute to the Police in Middlesbrough for the way in which they have helped to develop this project.

And particular tribute to Chief Superintendent David Lumb who has been a tower of strength in seeing that this initiative has succeeded.

And I pay tribute to Chief Superintendent Lumb at a time when he is moving on to other challenges within Cleveland Police. He will be missed.

I also know that our new Chief Constable, Sean Price, has seen the value of this approach.

And, I am sure, he will be trying to emulate it in the other police divisions within Cleveland.

I said that this approach has been fuelled by cash from Government.

And from Europe

And from Government programmes like SRB and the neighbourhood Renewal Fund.

£1.1 million alone from the Neighbourhood renewal Fund – overseen by the Deputy Prime Minister for the street warden service.

An original £1 million for CCTV

And £500,000 from the Home Office for the CCTV control room

£500,000 from the Home Office and SRB for alleygates.

£200,000 from the Neighbourhood Renewal Scheme for 'hot spot' litter patrols

And £1.82 million to the Cleveland Police this year through the Fighting Crime Fund.

And cash that has led to more police being recruited

Since 2001 there are 223 more Cleveland Police Officers tackling crime and disorder

A total of some 1,630 officers now patrolling the streets of Cleveland – and many of them deployed here in Middlesbrough.

This approach mirrors what we want to do for the future

Through the legislative programme our government is pioneering across the country.

There are a number of new bills that will soon be Acts of Parliament which will help to see that initiatives such as 'Raising Hope' can best succeed.

There are firstly minor – but still important - bills to improve car taxation and licensing.

Bills that will be able to cut car crime and make it easier to track vehicles, and to clamp down on disorderly drinking dens and on bars and clubs where crime is planned and carried out.

But there are two key bills which I want to highlight;

The Criminal Justice Bill and the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill.

Both are now coming to the final stages of their legislative timetable.

The aims of the Criminal Justice Bill is simple;

It aims to

• Reduce offending by people who are on bail
• Allow strong cases to come before the courts
• Speed up the administration of justice
• Bring about effective sentencing and punishment that fits the crime

It is a Bill that

• Supports victims
• Protects witnesses
• And delivers fast, effective justice for all.

The Criminal Justice Bill will accompany the new Anti-Social Behaviour Bill.

That bill will seek – for once and for all – to kill off the evil behaviour I mentioned at the beginning of this speech.

It will be backed by real cash.

The Home Secretary has promised – and the Chancellor has agreed – to put in £75 million of new money to help agencies on the ground to fight the curse of anti-social behaviour.

• There will be powers given to local councils to administer instant £100 fines on noisy households.
• There will also be powers to speed up the eviction by councils and registered social landlords of the 'neighbours from hell' who can, I know, blight whole communities and estates.
• There will be licensing of landlords, so that some of the rogue landlords who have abused the system as a way of earning easy cash from housing benefit can be weeded out.
• There will be more powers for local council Environmental Health Officers to close noisy premises – bars, cafes, amusement arcades and clubs – which have no regard for their neighbours.
• There will be powers for the police – collaborating with local councils – to designate areas where they will have the power to disperse intimidating groups of youths.
• There will be increased powers to curb begging - something that has blighted our streets for far too long.
• There will be new powers to ban the carrying and use of air weapons in public places.
• And to raise the age at which such weapons can be purchased and owned.
• And – something I know will be very welcome for many senior citizens at this time of year – new powers to curb the sale and misuse of fireworks.

Ladies and gentlemen, these bills, taken together, will help to crack down of the those evils which plague far too many of my constituents.

I know this from my constituency postbag.

And from my surgeries across the whole of my constituency.

From Easterside to Easington.

Raising Hope is integral to the success of this new legislation.

These new Acts must not be allowed to gather dust on the shelves of law offices and police stations.

They must be put into action.

I am a strong believer in the philosophy of rights and responsibilities.

And on the maintenance of law and order.

I believe that crime must be tackled energetically wherever it rears its ugly head

I was – from day one – a supporter of Zero Tolerance when Mayor Mallon was pioneering it here on the streets of Middlesbrough.

And I still passionately believe in this policing philosophy

I believe that Zero Tolerance can be partnered by programmes like the one we are celebrating today.

Raising Hope shows how positive action can be taken.

Putting theory into practice.

A practice that will, I know, mean a safer life for my constituents and for the communities they come from.

One controversial issue that was being discussed in Bournemouth yesterday may help this programme.

I refer to ID cards.

I put it on the line.

I am in favour of ID cards.

Let us be frank, all of us now have ID cards

But they are called driving licenses,

NI cards,

Passports

TV licenses

And Bank cheque cards

All of them pinpoint us and identify us

So those who argue that this could lead to an erosion of liberty are – I believe – barking up the wrong tree

David Blunkett has said that he would welcome a pilot area to test ID cards

And today I would argue that it would be worth putting forward Middlesbrough as a possible pilot area.

It would be a useful exercise and would really test how worthwhile these cards could be in tackling crime and tracking down criminals

Mayor Mallon, you have my full backing for what you are doing.

And, I can tell you, you have the backing of the government too.

Thank you for listening to me.