News from Sheffield Labour

Sheffield’s irresponsible Councillor Scriven

David Blunkett MP (Sheffield Brightside) today reacted angrily to the decision of Sheffield City Council Leader Councillor Paul Scriven to refuse the South Yorkshire Police’s application for a Dispersal Order for six months in the Fir Vale area.

David Blunkett said:

“When I was Home Secretary, I introduced Dispersal Orders to help the police and local communities deal with anti-social behaviour. At the time, I specifically linked Dispersal Orders with the new regulations we were introducing to control fireworks.

“Taken together, those powers and regulations have led to a dramatic reduction in anti-social behaviour arising from the misuse of fireworks, both in Sheffield and the rest of the country.”

South Yorkshire Police, with the full support of the local communities in Fir Vale (and in Wybourn, Fir Vale, Lowedges, Batemoor, Jordanthorpe and Gleadless Valley), had applied for six-month youth dispersal orders which would have covered both Halloween and Bonfire nights, when historically there have been significant increases in youth anti-social behaviour.

David Blunkett continued:

“Councillor Scriven’s decision to cut the length of the Dispersal Order in Fir Vale from six months to four months, thus missing the crucial Halloween and Bonfire Night periods, is just totally irresponsible. It’s a kick in the teeth for the local communities in Fir Vale, with whom he’s had absolutely no discussion before taking this decision.”

David Blunkett added:

“For all Councillor Scriven’s fine talk about devolving power to local communities, at the first opportunity he has to support the people of Fir Vale in addressing local anti-social behaviour, he just ignores them.

“However, we shouldn’t accuse Councillor Scriven of inconsistency, as the Liberal Democrats opposed both Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and Dispersal Orders and the introduction of more than 18,000 Police Community Support Officers, which together have done so much to cut the blight of anti-social behaviour.”

Other news from Sheffield Labour

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• Clive Betts MP hits the ground running for Sport Relief - 11 March 2010
• Angela Smith MP welcomes dangerous dogs announcement - 10 March 2010