Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has given strong backing to Steve Reed’s proposals to make Lambeth’s streets safer.  The Home Secretary joined Lambeth Council Leader Steve Reed on a tour of Brixton where she heard first-hand how the Labour-run Council is making public safety its number one priority after four years when the Lib Dems ignored the issue.

Steve welcomed Jacqui Smith to a briefing in Kennington before they both joined the Borough Police Commander, Sharon Rowe, on a visit to Brixton.  On the Moorlands Estate, the Home Secretary met young people involved in the X-it Programme.  The project is a council-funded scheme that trains young people to work with other youngsters who are getting into trouble, helping to steer them away from gangs and crime.    The project has a 70% success rate and was recently awarded the prestigious Guardian Public Services  Award as best children’s service. 

At a private briefing, Steve explained to the Home Secretary how the Council is getting drug dealers off the streets by serving them with ASBOs and naming those responsible for buying and selling drugs.  They also discussed the special Guns and Gangs Commission, set up by Cllr Reed, to find local solutions to the problems of gang-related violence including gun and knife crime. 

Speaking with Steve Reed in front of an audience of local people, the Home Secretary praised Lambeth as a ‘rapidly improving council’.  She offered to send representatives from the Home Office to support Steve when he launches Lambeth’s ground-breaking guns and gangs strategy in early February. 

Steve Reed and Jacqui Smith answer questions at a public meeting in Brixton