Maria Miller has welcomed the announcement that Hampshire police force will receive £549,991 in extra funding as part of the Government’s £25 million Safer Streets Fund – delivering on a key Conservative manifesto commitment.

The Safer Streets Fund forms part of the Government’s concerted action to tackle crime, and aims to stop offences that blight communities and cause misery to victims from happening in the first place.

The extra funding will be aimed at improving security in areas particularly affected by crimes such as burglary, vehicle theft and robbery. These offences are the crimes that the public are most likely to encounter, and they are estimated to cost society billions of pounds every year.

The new funding will go towards measures proven to cut crime. These include simple changes to the design of streets such as locked gates around alleyways, increased street-lightning and the installation of CCTV. Funding will also be used to train community wardens, deliver local crime prevention advice to residents and establish Neighbourhood Watch schemes.

Police and Crime Commissioners were invited to bid for a share of the £25 million Safer Streets Fund in January, with each project eligible for a grant of up to £550,000.

This additional funding comes alongside the Government’s commitment to recruit 20,000 additional police officers over the next three years, and the £1.1 billion funding boost for the policing system for 2020-21.

Local MP Maria Miller said, “I want the people of Basingstoke to feel secure in their communities and be able to live their lives free from the threat of crime.

“This new funding from the Government will help deliver on its manifesto promise to crack down on crime and make our streets safer, by investing in proven crime cutting measures, such as increased street lighting, CCTV and locked gates around alleyways.”