County Durham and Darlington is set to benefit from £1 million in funding as part of a new Government grant to boost public safety work.

Durham PCC Joy Allen is set to receive £1 million in funding to allocate across neighbourhood safety projects in County Durham and Darlington.

This comes as the Home Office released details of the Safer Streets 5 funding round, as they allocate a total of £60 million into preventing neighbourhood crime including anti-social behaviour and Violence Against Women and Girls.

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Because of this, County Durham and Darlington have now been allocated a provisional £1 million to invest in public safety projects between October 2023 and March 2025, to be overseen by Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen.

For Commissioner Allen, this funding is welcomed as she states the region has already made progress in tackling offences including anti-social behaviour.

Commisioner Allen said: “This is fantastic news for our communities in County Durham and Darlington. It will enable me to build on the huge progress we have made so far since launching a multiagency crackdown on ASB, neighbourhood crime and VAWG – crimes that matter a great deal to the public.

“The most recent performance figures show neighbourhood crime (robbery, residential burglary, theft from the person, vehicle crime) fell -32.7 per cent (2,373 offences) in the 12 months to March 2023 compared to 2019-20 (pre-Covid).

“ASB, meanwhile, fell -26.6 per cent in the 12 months to March 2023 (4,886 fewer offences). Clearly, previous Safer Streets funding and a continued focus on these areas is making a difference.

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“Tackling VAWG and providing better protection for women and girls was a key election pledge and I have funded a wealth of new resources to deliver increased support and safety measures to victims of these offences. This funding will enable us to expand on these improvements and help create communities where women and girls can live their lives with confidence and without fear.”

This provisional £1 million is currently less than the funding the region received in the previous four Safer Streets funding rounds, which totalled £3.4 million.

The process allows PCCs to apply for up to £465,000 in 2023-24 and up to £535k in 2024-25 as well as contribute a mandatory 50% in “matched funding support”.