I AM CONSIDERING ploughing up to £400,000 in 2013-14 into a soon-to-be established Community Safety Fund and looking at investing almost £200,000 a year in local community safety and crime reduction initiatives.
This will comprise of savings identified in the past year from the budget inherited for running the office from the former Police Authority and a one-off underspend in 2012-13 savings set aside for this purpose.
The idea behind the scheme is that individuals and community groups can apply for grants for projects that achieve my goal of preventing crimes happening.
These might include ideas such as CCTV cameras, security gates, smart water or, indeed, any innovation.
I have asked my team to press on with developing the detail of the scheme so that a public launch can be made.
This work will ensure that the process for submitting bids is easy to follow by everyone, while also ensuring bids are assessed against clear criteria that ensure the best ideas for preventing crime receive funds.
I have always thought that some of the best ideas come from individuals and community groups.
I've already identified savings of almost £200,000 compared with what the Police Authority was spending. I can think of no better way than to use this directly to prevent crime rather than being used to pay for administration and bureaucracy.
As soon as my team comes back with the details of how the scheme will work then I will make a public announcement through the media and my website explaining what people and groups need to do to get money for their ideas.
In the meantime, I want to encourage people who believe they have a good idea to start developing them now.