Today Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith visited a community centre in Bolton which works very closely with the neighbourhood police team in their area.

The Ucan centre is an informal meeting place for the community where people can get information about jobs, report policing concerns, take part in educational activities or just drop in for a cuppa. Among their activities the community centre runs schemes for young people in the area to learn new skills.

Gordon Brown said

"It's very important to listen to people and to hear what they are saying and the issues here are that people want less anti-social behaviour and they want the police to be more active in the local community.

"The issue here is that they have now got police community support officers doing a great job in giving people confidence and they can go out at night without the old fears that there might be vandalism or anti-social behaviour.”

Decent, law-abiding families have a fundamental right to feel safe in their homes and on their streets. We have to come down hard on the gangs who make people feel unsafe.

Labour has put officers on the beat in your community responding to your concerns - officers you know by name, who are easily available to contact by phone or email.

At the Ucan centre in Bolton the local police team tackle anti social behaviour and also work with the local community centre so that young people are made aware opportunities to learn skills and other positive activities are available rather than hanging around shops and public places.

The kids know if they don't behave they won't be allowed to take part in the activities at the community centre along with their mates. And because the neighbourhood police team gets to know the young people in the area, it's much easier to find out who is responsible for any violence or vandalism in the local area - and deal with them.

Labour would like to see this project followed across the country. Neighbourhood police teams working with youth workers and community centres to offer young people better things to do, and keep their behaviour in line, instead of just letting them hang around, getting bored and causing bother.

But none of this would happen without a Labour government and Labour councils making the investment in neighbourhood police teams and youth services.

Neighbourhood policing background

As of April 1st 2008, every household across the country has a dedicated Neighbourhood Policing Team to solve local problems – contactable by phone or through community meetings. Details are also available through a new website: www.neighbourhoodpolicing.co.uk.

Neighbourhood Policing Teams consist of police officers and Police Community Support Officers. They work with local people – listening to them and ensuring their concerns are met. The Teams will also be working with communities to set local priorities – such as tackling anti-social behaviour, drugs or alcohol-related crime. By drawing up local policing pledges, local people will have a real say over how their streets are policed.

The new policing pledge, to be introduced later this year, will set out a national standard of what people can expect from their Neighbourhood Policing Team. The standards could include:

• arranging to visit you at a convenient time;
• regular reporting on the progress of detecting a crime;
• how a victim of crime is treated and supported; and
• how and when local crime information is provided to the public.