Latest news with #KatyBourne
BBC News
04-07-2025
- BBC News
Volunteers catch over 45,000 Sussex drivers speeding in 2024/25
More than 45,000 drivers in Sussex have been caught speeding by volunteers over the last year, new figures have Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Katy Bourne shared the findings for 2024/25 during a meeting of the county's police and crime panel on the work of community speedwatch volunteers, the public reported more than 13,000 incidents of dangerous and antisocial driving via Operation Crackdown. Presenting her annual report, the PCC said the figures were "quite sobering". "It's no wonder we're seeing increases in collisions on our roads," she Bourne confirmed that another 772 reports were made via a separate road safety initiative, Operation a result, more than 30,000 people were given the chance to attend driver training courses as an alternative to prosecution, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. At the end of March, Sussex Police left the Safer Roads Partnership and it was announced that a dedicated Fatal Five Roads Unit would be set up to deal with issues such as Fatal Five are driving offences which are the main contributors to serious and fatal accidents – excess speed, not wearing a seatbelt, being distracted by things such as a phone, drink and drug driving, and careless and inconsiderate Bourne confirmed that the business case for the unit is now complete. She said: "We're now in the process with the scoping team. That started this month and we're due that report in October. "So hopefully it will be established in the new year. But these things take a while."
BBC News
20-06-2025
- BBC News
Prisoners from HMP Ford will begin building new homes
Prisoners in Sussex will build homes across the county as part of a deterrent from HMP Ford Prison are being offered training before getting out on site, and it is hoped the project will help cut reoffending homes will then be offered to those on local housing registers, key workers or vulnerable people, such as women and children who are fleeing domestic the project is still in the early stages in Sussex, it has already proved a success in the South West, with more than 180 houses built by prisoners in the region so far. Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Katy Bourne has allocated funding for the scheme and believes it will help rehabilitate costs the UK more than £18bn each year, police say."This programme will also help to address the housing shortages and high rent prices," Ms Bourne PPC visited Boutique Modern, the contractor and modular manufacturer who will employ the prisoners to build sustainable components of the homes are built within the factory and shipped to the construction site for firm already has two prisoners on its books and said it hopes to expand the programme across its factory, sites and wider business if the new project goes Shone, projects director for Boutique Modern, said: "Giving inmates the opportunity to develop real skills in a real working environment not only supports rehabilitation but also strengthens our industry at its core."It's exactly the kind of collaborative, purposeful work that reflects our values as a business."
BBC News
11-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
What does the Spending Review mean for the South East?
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to deliver her plans later for how much the government is going to spend over the next few years on public Spending Review will set the budgets for all departments over the next few years, including the NHS, schools and look at some of the issues that might impact south-east England. Policing The government has promised more "bobbies on the beat", with 13,000 additional neighbourhood police over the course of this with other big priorities like defence and the NHS, there are fears the Home Secretary will not be given the money needed to adequately fund day-to-day budgets in the South East are already under pressure. Sussex Police is having to find £5m worth of savings this year. Forces in the region also need to absorb an increase in employers' National Insurance contributions and an increase to the minimum Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne has told me she is anxious about the government's settlement. She says the South East faces particular challenges, especially with its proximity to London, which is an exporter of drugs and knife Treasury has said police forces will get an above inflation increase, but it is thought some Home Office sources believe the funding allocated is not enough. Housing Councils in Brighton & Hove, Crawley, Eastbourne, Hastings, Ashford, Gravesham and Canterbury are among those who have struggled under the pressure of unprecedented demand for social housing, with spiralling costs for temporary indicate deputy prime minster and housing secretary Angela Rayner will be given a boost for investment in affordable housing, but whether it will be on the scale that councils in the South East have been calling for remains to be seen. Brighton social housing tenant Mary Davies suffered a mental health breakdown and alcohol addiction during the Covid-19 lockdown and became homeless after her marriage broke said: "You can't rebuild anything in your life without having a safe and secure home."It saved my life and has allowed me to sustain my recovery and get to a point where I can be employed again and be a safe mum to my daughter. "It's worth the government investing in that." Transport Kent has long been seen as England's gateway to Europe and roads across the South East, such as the M25 and M23, are the most heavily-used in the is why the lack of spending for transport has surprised some, as the Treasury has focused on improving transport in the Midlands and the North, with £15bn of spending confirmed for other areas. There are reports that one of the UK's biggest transport infrastructure projects in the UK, the Lower Thames Crossing, will receive only £1bn of the £2bn operators had hoped for to attract private financial tunnel is going to require upwards of £9bn to complete, with the government hoping the project will be complete by the mid that funding has been largely focussed elsewhere has worried some campaigners including councillors in the north of Kent who say more needs to be done to ease the traffic problems they are facing. Councils Last month, the leader of Surrey County Council, Tim Oliver, talked about the "unprecedented challenges" facing local government, which he described as being "often the bottom of the government's priority list".Councils were particularly hard hit after 2010 during the austerity years and officials feel things have not got any better in terms of of growing demand - which have led to huge pressures on local authority finances - include adult social care and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).The number of children needing education, health and care plans (EHCPS) or specialist school places continues to rise across East and West Sussex, Surrey and Kent, which causes stress and heartache for many families.A major reform is on the way, with the two tier system of councils being have said the changes will save money which can be reinvested in public services, but there is a lot of uncertainty about the future of local government.
BBC News
13-05-2025
- BBC News
Sussex Police to hand out tool marking kits to tradespeople
Hundreds of tool marking kits which use DNA tracking technology will be handed out to tradespeople in Sussex to help tackle tool 500 kits, which use an invisible DNA solution to mark tools and machinery, will be given out to people in Brighton in a bid to reduce the prolific rural scheme had previously been used to protect farm machinery but will now be rolled out after tradespeople across the South East called for tougher penalties after a spate of reported Bourne, Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), said the kits were an "extra layer of protection acting as a powerful deterrent against theft". Ms Bourne added: "The kits make stolen tools traceable and harder for criminals to profit in re-seller markets."For traders, their tools can be their livelihoods, they often cost thousands of pounds to replace and theft of equipment can leave people out of work."Kits used in the scheme work by providing an invisible DNA gel which can be used to mark property such as tools and gel dries clear and then can only be identified through ultraviolet light and specialist microscopes, a PCC spokesperson analysed, the gel marking can then be used to help return the tools to their rightful owners if they are total, 500 of the kits have been funded by the PCC's office in partnership with tradespeople website Checkatrade.A report by trade publication On The Tools found four in five tradespeople in the UK that were surveyed in the report had experienced tool often worth thousands of pounds can be stolen from the back of tradespeople's vans, wreaking havoc on traders who are then out of pocket and unable to work.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
DNA marking kits handed out to tackle tool theft
Hundreds of tool marking kits which use DNA tracking technology will be handed out to tradespeople in Sussex to help tackle tool thefts. About 500 kits, which use an invisible DNA solution to mark tools and machinery, will be given out to people in Brighton in a bid to reduce the prolific rural crime. The scheme had previously been used to protect farm machinery but will now be rolled out after tradespeople across the South East called for tougher penalties after a spate of reported crimes. Katy Bourne, Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), said the kits were an "extra layer of protection acting as a powerful deterrent against theft". Ms Bourne added: "The kits make stolen tools traceable and harder for criminals to profit in re-seller markets. "For traders, their tools can be their livelihoods, they often cost thousands of pounds to replace and theft of equipment can leave people out of work." Kits used in the scheme work by providing an invisible DNA gel which can be used to mark property such as tools and machinery. The gel dries clear and then can only be identified through ultraviolet light and specialist microscopes, a PCC spokesperson added. When analysed, the gel marking can then be used to help return the tools to their rightful owners if they are stolen. In total, 500 of the kits have been funded by the PCC's office in partnership with tradespeople website Checkatrade. A report by trade publication On The Tools found four in five tradespeople in the UK that were surveyed in the report had experienced tool theft. Tools often worth thousands of pounds can be stolen from the back of tradespeople's vans, wreaking havoc on traders who are then out of pocket and unable to work. Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. BBC Sounds: Counting the cost of tool theft DNA scheme on farm machinery cuts theft - report Tradespeople demand fix for tool theft 'plague' Sussex Police
