Press release

Office: 01634 243234

Janice Small 07889 927430

www.batleyandspenconservatives.com

Janice4Batley@aol.com

Janice Small for

Batley & Spen

Put the law back on the side of local people across Kirklees, says Janice as violent crime increases by 93%

Blueprint to tackle crime in Kirklees, as 6246 violent attacks took place last year

Janice Smallstrongly endorsed radical and bold new plans – set out in the Conservatives’ draft election manifesto – to tackle crime and to restore confidence in Britain’s ‘broken’ criminal justice system.

Their importance is underlined by new analysis revealing that there were 6,246 violent attacks on people across Kirklees in the last year, a rise of 93% per cent in the last decade. Under the manifesto plans, a Conservative Government would:

·             Give Kirklees’ citizens greater protection if they have to defend themselves against intruders in their homes, or if they stop a crime being committed in the street.

·             Create fifteen new rape crisis centres across the country, and give all existing rape crisis centres stable, long-term funding.

·             Grant Kirklees new powers to fight booze-fuelled antisocial behaviour in Batley and Spen, and stop supermarkets selling alcohol at below cost-price which is destroying law-abiding local pubs and fuelling low-level crime.

·             Replace the invisible and unaccountable West Yorkshire Police Authority, making the police properly accountable to a directly elected person who will set priorities for local policing.

·             Publish detailed street-by-street crime statistics online every month, in an open and standardised format, so people know the real level of crime in their neighbourhood.

·             Make it clear that anyone caught carrying a knife in a public place can expect to be prosecuted and sent to prison.

Janice said:

“Labour have launched endless initiatives and top-down schemes which have made little difference. Their broken promises have undermined people’s trust. We can’t go on with the police filling in forms instead of fighting crime. The people here have told me that crime is their No1 issue and I am responding to them. They worry about binge drinking and the rise in drugs crime - to over 80%.

“I’ve been out with our hard-working local police officers who deserve the highest praise. But many people across Batley and Spen are hugely frustrated with our criminal justice system. They feel that it’s just not on their side anymore. These major Conservative proposals will help put the law back on the side of local people in Batley and Spen and give our police the full support they so richly deserve.”

Notes to Editors

  NEW MANIFESTO TO TACKLE CRIME

The crime section of Conservatives’ draft general election manifesto was published on 19 January.

http://www.conservatives.com/~/media/Files/Draft%20Manifesto/DraftCrimeManifesto.ashx?dl=true (PDF)

LOCAL FIGURES

The table below shows the number of offences recorded in each local area for ‘violence against the person’ in 1999-00 (the base year for comparative statistics) and the most recent year.

Sources: Home Office recorded crime statistics.

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/cdrptabsnew.xls

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/1200data2.xls

ENDS

Promoted by Maurice Cook, Spring Villa, 16a Church Lane, Brighouse, HD6 1AT