Background details can be found in the link here: https://robcrute-blackhall.blogspot.com/2023/07/responding-to-community-fears-of-crime.html
Earlier this week I took part in a follow-up interview with a local newspaper reporter who showed an interest in how reports of crime and antisocial behaviour were being tackled, and also what arrangements had been put in place to address local concerns.
When I spoke to the reporter I first set out the context to the issues we face as a community. At the moment of course they’re expressed in terms of the latest sudden spike in reports of antisocial behaviour a few weeks ago. However, the background to today’s issues are rooted in the past and are the product of years of deliberate underfunding where communities like ours have been all but abandoned by central government in their crusade to make rich areas richer at our expense.
For the past 13 years our communities and local councils have been subjected to a prolonged period of unnecessary political austerity designed deliberately to undermine our public services - including the police force, the criminal justice system, local and national health services and our local authority services. Cuts to our public services on this scale cannot be sustained without some level of breakdown in our communities. Whether that manifests itself in terms of crime and antisocial behaviour, unemployment, health inequalities or reduced numbers of police on the beat there’s no doubt that we’re worse off now than we’ve ever been before.
Perhaps the most devastating impact has been the chaos created in the housing sector over the past few decades. Years ago houses for rent in our communities were overwhelmingly owned and maintained by either the local council or the colliery. Although things weren’t always perfect back then at least if tenants stepped out of line they had the authorities to answer to. As a result of a series of poor policy decisions by government since then the housing sector has now changed beyond recognition.
Former council and colliery housing has now largely been transferred to the private-rented sector in which a significant number of absentee landlords rent out their properties without a care for the impact on our communities or the conduct of their tenants.
Given the nature of the housing stock this has hit Blackhall Colliery and other former pit villages particularly hard. It goes without saying that the dire condition of many of these properties is a blight on the street scene, and the conduct of some of the tenants coming into our villages on short-term tenancies has had an unsettling effect on an otherwise settled community.
This indicates to me that in the immediate-term more regulation is required in the private-rented sector, and in the longer-term we need to look at how we can bring any persistently problematic elements of the private-housing sector into public control. To put this into perspective I’ve never met anyone who argues that housing is generally in a better condition under the private sector - or that bus services have improved since they were handed over to private companies after deregulation back in the 1980’s.
However, understandably, residents want to see action now to address their immediate concerns about the issues facing our village - and at the moment that’s all about the latest spike in incidents of crime and antisocial behaviour (residents who have regularly attended the monthly PACT meetings for a long time will have noticed trends in reported cases of crime and antisocial behaviour over the years, and will be aware that these incidents tend to be sporadic - coming to a head every now and again).
This latest spike in incidents is the reason I’ve brought together a range of agencies to establish a first response and then pass the reins over to the community to decide how they wish to continue. Once the basic structure is in place one idea would be to hold an open-day or drop-in event in the village at which residents and businesses can come along to speak with police and local representatives to talk about any specific issues they have, and also have their say on how together we can improve community safety in our communities. As an alternative however this could be better facilitated through the existing PACT meetings held in the village every month. This approach would provide a regular and permanent monthly forum for residents and businesses alike to come along each month to raise their concerns direct with the police and neighbourhood wardens.
I told the newspaper reporter about the meeting I've arranged with local and countywide partner organisations to take place later this month to set out the next steps. The agencies coming along to the meeting include the police, community safety officers, neighbourhood wardens, regeneration and housing officers, the parish clerk and other partners who all have years of experience in the field and are well positioned to tackle the issues I’ve been told about by residents and businesses during regular street walkabouts, at ward surgeries, monthly PACT meetings and in daily calls and correspondence as one of the local elected councillors for the area.
I then suggested that as a collective group we would adopt a dual approach to consider immediate short-term measures and then set out a medium- to long-term plan to sustain the changes made during the first phase.
The initial objective is to assess the true extent of reported issues in our village at the moment. This includes analysing up to date figures on crime and antisocial behaviour, comparing them to previous figures to determine whether there’s a trend developing. The agencies can then direct their attention where it’s most needed. In addition, when the group maps out the profile of the community they can look at installing those measures deemed most effective and appropriate to tackle residents concerns. This will ensure that the issues we face will be addressed in proportion to their impact on the community.
At the heart of this approach must be improved local communication and engagement with the community. This includes making reporting crime easier, and crucially worthwhile. For too long now people have made the effort to report crime and antisocial behaviour incidents, only for the system to breakdown, meaning that nothing seems to be done.
Following the first, short-term phase the intention is to consider those longer-term measures that would bring real change and a make a positive and lasting difference to our village.
As set out above this includes looking at how we can bring the housing sector back under local control (recognising of course that there is room for local private-sector landlords who respond when there are issues to address and who provide a vital service in the housing supply chain).
We also need to lobby government to reverse the devastating impact of austerity. Our own local authority, Durham County Council, has its funding reduced by £280m a year, every year, so central government must be forced to recognise the damage their policies have on our communities and begin to fund local services properly.
In addition the number of police officers has to be reinstated as a matter of urgency. If our residents are to feel safer our communities they need to see a visible, responsive presence on the ground. And when residents report issues to the authorities they deserve a better service than the one they receive now.
Many issues like this are beyond the control of the community of course, but that doesn’t mean we should sit back and endure the impact locally of decisions made centrally by people who will never understand the lives we lead in former pit villages like Blackhall Colliery and elsewhere in East Durham.
By building on the strong community spirit that still exists in Blackhall Colliery, and developing a clear understanding of the continuing issues we face as a community, we can work together with the right people, in the right places to make a positive and lasting difference.
The newspaper report on our plans is scheduled to be published within the next week or so, and I’ll report on progress on these pages in due course, but in the meantime if you have any issues you would like me to know about please get in touch with me at: rob.crute@durham.gov.uk
