Labour scores an own goal over antisocial behaviour in Colchester

At the Council meeting on 19th July, Labour Councillors shot themselves in the foot when they proposed a motion on anti-social behaviour.

They pretentiously proposed:

“This Council notes the rising incidents of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the historic city centre and surrounding neighbourhoods, which includes: damage to property; harassment and abuse of staff and customers in the retail and hospitality sectors; thefts from shops which harm businesses and which can heighten vulnerability experienced by retail staff and customers. Labour called on the City Council and local Community Safety Partnership: to develop and implement a new Anti-Social Behaviour Plan to tackle these issues.”

While they tried desperately to catch the headlines, Labour had not done their homework.

Statistics supplied by the Police and by the Crime Commissioners Office showed a very different picture:

While there is some crime and antisocial behaviour everywhere, the statistics for Colchester showed that for the year ending July 2023, Antisocial behaviour was 10.7% of all crimes reported in Colchester,

The total number of antisocial behaviour crimes was 4517, representing 11.6 crimes per annum per 1000 workday people. Colchester's anti-social behaviour crime rate was only 71% of the National Average.

The number of Colchester’s anti-social behaviour crimes, 4517, for the year ending July 2023 showed a decrease of 30.3% when compared year-over-year.

Cllr Andrew Ellis, Conservative spokesman on Housing & Communities, said: “There is always room for improvements in the reduction of crime. But the strategy of the Police and the Colchester’s Community Safety Partnership resulted in a significant decrease in anti-social behaviour crimes of 30.3% year-over-year to July 2023. Labour should be congratulating the Police, not hounding them.

Perhaps the Labour Group might like to take a trip to Blackpool (Labour controlled Council), where anti-social behaviour crimes run at 48 per annum per 1000 workday people, compared to Colchester’s 11.6, or to East London at 33 per annum per 1000 workday people.

Conservatives pledge their support to the police in their efforts to make Colchester a safe place to live and work