Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Antisocial Behaviour

Monday 24 February 2025 · 7 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 7 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial powers are being strengthened to address off-road bikes causing antisocial behaviour.
  • The Government plans to introduce respect orders to ban repeat offenders of antisocial behaviour.
  • Police numbers for neighbourhood policing are set to increase to address local crime and antisocial behaviour.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 David Williams Lab Stoke-on-Trent North
Crime & Law Enforcement Community Security
Context

The MP noted that off-road bikes are causing significant damage to football pitches and other areas in his constituency. He highlighted a local community leader, Mark Porter from Kidsgrove Ladsanddads, who runs activities for young people but faces issues with off-road bikes.

Question

Mark Porter is a community leader who runs Kidsgrove Ladsanddads. Around 400 young people play football at Birchenwood fields every weekend, yet the football pitches are constantly damaged by off-road bikes. The same happens at Burslem golf club and across estates such as Mill Hill in Tunstall. What steps will be taken to tackle the impact of off-road parks on communities in Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Some off-road bikes are a total nightmare and can drive communities up the wall with harassment and intimidation. That is why we are strengthening powers. At the moment, the police must provide repeat warnings before they can take action to seize such bikes; we think that they should be able to seize those antisocial bikes straightaway.

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Q2 Alice Macdonald Labour (Co-op) Norwich North
Crime & Law Enforcement Community Security
Context

The MP highlighted a recent crackdown on e-bikes and e-scooters by Norfolk police, seizing illegally modified bikes in Norwich. She noted that these vehicles are causing issues like speeding and threatening the safety of residents.

Question

Antisocial behaviour comes in a variety of forms. Norfolk police have recently made it a priority to address safety concerns about e-bikes and e-scooters. In just one day, they reportedly seized 12 illegally modified bikes in Norwich. I welcome that crackdown, but speeding e-bikes and e-scooters are a real menace in our city centre. Will the Home Secretary expand on the measures that we will take to tackle speeding and illegally modified e-bikes and e-scooters?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

My hon. Friend is right to raise this issue, which causes havoc and can be really threatening for people in the local community. That is why we will strengthen the law by supporting the police to take stronger action on off-road bikes, and by introducing respect orders so that we can ban repeat offenders from town centres and tackle the antisocial behaviour that has blighted communities for far too long.

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Q3 Munira Wilson Lib Dem Twickenham
Policing & Resources Crime & Law Enforcement
Context

The MP expressed concern about plans to axe the specialist royal parks policing unit, leading to a reduction in police coverage in her constituency's parks due to budget constraints for the Metropolitan Police.

Question

Antisocial behaviour is a problem not just in our town centres, but in our parks. That is why my constituents are extremely concerned about plans to axe the specialist royal parks policing unit and subsume it into community support teams, given the £450 million shortfall facing the Met police. This means that Bushy Park in my constituency will undoubtedly get less police coverage. What assurances can the Home Secretary give my constituents that they will not see fewer police officers in our communities and our parks?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

This Government are clear: we need to get more police back on the beat. The number of police community support officers has halved over the past 10 to 15 years, and there has been a big drop in the number of neighbourhood police officers on the beat. That is why next year we are increasing neighbourhood policing, with an additional £200 million of investment. That is part of up to £1.1 billion of additional funding next year for our police forces across the country.

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Q4 Lee Anderson Reform Ashfield
Policing & Resources Crime & Law Enforcement Community Security
Context

The MP raised the issue of nuisance tenants causing problems for communities and proposed a 'one strike and out' policy to address such issues.

Question

The Home Secretary will be aware that councils up and down the country have real problems with nuisance tenants creating mayhem, committing crimes and making residents’ lives a misery, so does she agree that there should be a “one strike and out” policy for these tenants, and that if they keep creating problems, they should be out and the local authority should have no duty to rehouse them?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

We need stronger action against antisocial behaviour, whether that involves havoc in town centres, off-road bikes or nuisance neighbours making the community’s lives a misery. That is why the Government are increasing neighbourhood policing and giving the police and local communities much stronger powers to crack down on antisocial behaviour so that we can take back our communities from the vandals, the thieves and those who make others’ lives a misery.

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Q5 Jessica Morden Lab Newport East
Policing & Resources Crime & Law Enforcement Transport
Context

The MP highlighted the growing issue of antisocial use of e-scooters and e-bikes, which she believes is not well addressed by current legislation.

Question

Like my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich North (Alice Macdonald), I find that constituents consistently mention the antisocial use of e-scooters and e-bikes, and I certainly welcome on my constituents’ behalf the measures in the crime and policing Bill about seizing such vehicles. Will Ministers talk to the Department for Transport about updating legislation, particularly in relation to e-scooters? Their usage has exploded but legislation has not kept pace.

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

We are working with the Department for Transport. We need to keep communities safe, ensure that proper safety standards are met and tackle antisocial behaviour. I have also seen the work of Staffordshire police, who are using drones to follow riders of dangerous off-road bikes and take action.

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Q6 Ashley Fox Con Bridgwater
Policing & Resources Crime & Law Enforcement
Context

The MP raised the issue of special constables and their role in supporting police forces, noting a decline in numbers since the pandemic.

Question

Does the Home Secretary agree that it would be easier for the police to tackle antisocial behaviour if they had more support for special constables? The number of special constables has fallen in recent years, particularly since the pandemic. Will she agree to consider amending the Employment Rights Act 1996 to bring special constables within section 50?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

I agree that special constables can play an important role. Their numbers have dropped by around two thirds over the past 14 years. I think that is damaging, and we want to increase their numbers. We are working with police forces on how best to achieve that so that they can play their part, both on the streets in neighbourhood teams and in supporting other specialist aspects of the police’s work.

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Q7 Matt Vickers Con Stockton West
Crime & Law Enforcement Community Security
Context

The MP criticized a Labour councillor for his role in the pensioner-hating WhatsApp scandal, and noted that police time was wasted on an issue of political criticism.

Question

Greater Manchester has one of the highest crime rates in the country, with many suffering as a result of antisocial behaviour, but this weekend we saw police officers knocking on the door of a grandmother because she dared to criticise a Labour councillor for his role in the pensioner-hating WhatsApp scandal. Does the Home Secretary agree that is a waste of police time?

Answer from The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)

The Government have been clear that the focus of policing must be on the neighbourhood crimes that blight our communities. That is why we are increasing neighbourhood policing, because the Conservative party slashed the number of neighbourhood police on the beat and we lost thousands of neighbourhood police in our communities. That is why we are also focusing the police on serious violence. The legislation to be introduced tomorrow will focus on tackling serious violence and dealing with the most serious crimes in our communities—something that the Conservative party, which presided over a 61% increase in shoplifting alone during its last two years in power, failed time and again to do.

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