Leigh Ingham

It is a genuine pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I thank the hon. Member for Birmingham Perry Barr (Ayoub Khan) for securing this debate. Recently, I held one of my regular coffee mornings in Silkmore in Stafford, and residents raised a wide range of issues, but a common theme emerged from the discussion: people want to see more visible policing in their communities. They want to know that their concerns will be taken seriously, and that officers understand the area that they serve. The same theme came out during the independent business roundtable in Stafford town centre. Business owners spoke passionately about the contribution they make to the high street, but they also talked about the negative effect that antisocial behaviour is having in our town centre. Favourites such as Webb, Lucas & Stubbs optometrists now have an automatic lock fitted on the door to ensure that staff are safe, and Salter Street Toys and Models is reconsidering how to run its business, telling me that the thing that often makes the most difference is a visible police presence, with PCSOs around regularly. Neighbourhood policing has faced considerable cuts over many years. Communities have felt the loss of that local presence, and that is why I welcome the renewed focus on neighbourhood policing under this Labour Government. One thing that struck me from my conversation with residents, however, is that they are not simply asking for more police or tougher enforcement; they want us to address the underlying causes of the problems. This summer in Stafford, we sadly had an issue of antisocial behaviour involving young people in the town centre. I am a former youth worker, so I am aware that people often reach for young people when it is ASB, and I do not like the two always being conflated—but with this issue, that was true. In Stafford, we had the third worst cuts to youth services in the country. Those were decisions made by Conservative Administrations prior to our involvement. My residents know that to turn things around in the long term we must consider how we create opportunities and strengthen the communities that young people are growing up in. That is why I am campaigning for a youth centre in Stafford like the one that my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay (Noah Law) has coming to his constituency.