It was good to meet with Kim McGuinness, Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner for the first time this week. We’ve been trying to get together for some time. Kim told me about some of the work the force has been doing to address anti-social behaviour in the Blyth Valley constituency and it was good to hear that there are now more than 600 extra warranted officers serving in Northumbria than there was in 2019 when I was elected. The Police do a fantastic job dealing in often difficult circumstances and demand on their services remains very high.
We discussed the uplift of officers in Blyth and the challenges of anti-social behaviour around Cramlington town centre. I'm hoping that Northumbria will be able to deploy their mobile police unit in Cramlington.
Northumbria Police were part of the deep dive carried out by the Government last year when they visited Blyth Valley and will play an important role in making sure that the extra £20m Levelling up money announced by Secretary of State Michael Gove will be spent on the right interventions.
We also discussed Seaton Valley which thankfully is not a policing hotspot but does suffer from some crime and speeding. Kim highlighted how communities can get involved with Shop Watch and Speed Watch initiatives and I’ll do what I can to encourage that.
Kim took the opportunity to highlight funding challenges and we discussed how non policing interventions can improve outcomes for young people. We discussed how youth services, sport and other activities are important ways to keep young people engaged. I’d add a good education to that and it’s great to see more children in Northumberland being educated in good or outstanding schools. Northumberland education has been shooting up the national league tables and I’m proud of the part the Government and I have played in supporting the Conservative run council at County Hall with that. There is investment in schools like new modular classrooms for Cramlington Learning village, a brand-new high school (and middle school) for Seaton Valley and a new SEN school in Blyth. It’s great to see work underway on building the new Offshore Training Centre in Blyth.
Although we're different political parties I am looking forward to working with Kim to reduce crime in Blyth Valley and makes our streets safer and look forward to our next meeting. We’re going to do a walk around next time.
