Readers of this blog and the Evening Post will know that I have been leading the campaign locally for more effective policing. One of the issues I have been highlighting consistently is the difficulty faced by many Neighbour Action Groups (NAGs) which are struggling to engage with the local community owing to the fact that they currently have no budget for communication
The urgent need for support for NAGs was brought home to me at the weekend when I bumped into one of our local PCSOs who was having to spend her own time hand-delivering hastily photocopied leaflets ahead of a NAG meeting later in the week.
I am aware that this NAG currently has no resources to produce it's own leaflets, and very few local residents attend meetings.
As the PSCO said to me 'people I talk to say they have never even heard of Neighbourhood Policing or the Neighbourhood Action Group'. Should we be surprised?
Anyway, as part of the revised Budget agreed tonight, Labour's ruling executive backed a proposal first put forward by the Lib Dem Group last Tuesday to provide Council resources to support the communication of Neighbourhood Police team and NAG activity in the Borough.
This support was financed by identifying savings elsewhere in the Council's Budget, including freezing councillor's allowances, reducing the amount spent on refreshments in council meetings, and reviewing spending on PR & consultants.
Reading's Conservative Group of councillors voted against the plans.
Boosting the capacity of NAGs to communicate with local people is a welcome first step towards delivering much needed greater community engagement in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in Reading.
And In case anyone thought we dreamt these plans up over the weekend, I would like to draw your attention to the Lib Dem approach to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour which I outlined in a Council meeting last October.
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