Noah Law

When I was elected, it was on the back of three pledges, one of which was to work to revitalise our towns. A key aspect of that is tackling antisocial behaviour in St Austell. Although Cornwall has a lower crime rate than the national average, around 405 incidents of ASB have been recorded in St Austell in the last year, which makes it the second most common category of recorded crime, underlying why tackling it remains such a priority for residents. St Austell ranks fifth among the nine towns in the area for recorded crime, but the town centre faces a challenge of the perception, as well as the reality, of those ASB incidents, which so often relate to drugs and alcohol. I commend the work of Safer Cornwall, Cornwall council’s ASB and rough sleeping teams, and St Austell police. The summer blitz that took place last year delivered 1,500 hours of police foot patrols across the focus areas, including St Austell, with 590 arrests for retail crime and 79 for street crime. In August, police and partners also served full closure orders on two addresses in the area. But there is much more to do: throughout my community conversations in the last few months, it was clear that we need to tackle the upstream causes of antisocial behaviour. On youth services, enforcement alone cannot give young people something to do and somewhere to go. The Government have published the first national youth strategy in more than a decade, backed by more than £500 million of investment. Cornwall has secured £1.5 million for two Young Futures hubs. Ramping up funding to tackle drug and alcohol abuse is vital; it was slashed under previous Governments by more than half in real terms. I want to be candid: although we need to take a humanitarian approach, we must also take a firm approach. That is why we must be sensible and strategic about the provision of supported accommodation, and have tough conversations with Cornwall council. I was pleased that it has been reviewing its approach in recent years. Will the Minister come back to St Austell in her current role, bringing to bear the full might of Government behind my pledge for St Austell?