Exeter to spend £550k on safer streets

Most of funding is from government

Exeter has been awarded £432,000 to tackle crime and make streets safer in the city centre and surrounding areas following a partnership funding bid spearheaded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Exeter City Council.

The money is coming from the Safer Streets Fund run by the Home Office, primarily focused on helping make women and girls feel safer on the streets. Together with local match funding, the area is getting more than £550,000 over the next 10 months. 

The money for Exeter comes from a fund focused on preventing neighbourhood crimes like burglary, vehicle theft and robbery, helping to improve  safety in public spaces during the daytime and to prevent wider criminality and antisocial behaviour. 

Seventeen new CCTV cameras will be introduced, alongside enhanced street lighting in problem areas as well as crime prevention training and property marking campaigns.  The funding will also support investment in community projects such as graffiti clean-up, park improvements and the set up of new Neighbourhood Watch Schemes and security improvements for properties.    

The bid is the result of hard work by Exeter City Council, the commissioner’s office, Devon and Cornwall Police, the Devon and Cornwall Community Watch Association and key partners within the city.

As part of the development process the project team presented their proposals at a panel which included the commissioner, Assistant Chief Constable Julie Fielding and a member of the commissioner’s Lived Experience Adviser Scheme. Lived experience advisors are members of the local community who support the commissioner by sharing their experience, insight and understanding.

This is the second award of funding allocated to Devon and Cornwall under the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund, with North Stonehouse awarded £546,000 in 2020-21 to deliver the Stronger North Stonehouse Project.

Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez said: “Exeter is a wonderful city with a vibrant and welcoming community. But like anywhere, it does have problems. This funding will make a big difference. 

“There is strong evidence, according to the Home Office, that crimes can be prevented by tactics that either remove opportunities to commit crime or act as a deterrent by increasing the chances of an offender being caught.

“While the focus of this funding is on preventing acquisitive crimes like burglary and vehicle theft the measures being put in place will also contribute to wider safety of people living, working or socialising in the city. I am particularly pleased that this funding will allow a significant increase in CCTV coverage with an additional 17 cameras planned in new locations.

“I look forward to working with Exeter City Council and our other partners to deliver this important project and to reassure the public that we are serious about tackling crime and making Exeter’s streets safer.

Exeter City Council Leader Phil Bialyk said: “This is a massive boost for the city. The money will help us create an environment where the streets feel safer and it is much harder place for predatory crimes to take place.

“Over £300,000 of this funding will be spent on upgrading our already successful CCTV network, and along with other measures, will send out a strong message that crime is not welcome in this great city of ours in any shape or form.”

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