Helping people to feel safe in their community
Feeling safe is essential to wellbeing, which is why we’re committed to taking robust enforcement action to improve community safety. Working with our partners we want to create an environment where people feel secure when out and about or relaxing at home. We also want to improve public perceptions as we know that safety and tackling anti-social behaviour were highlighted as the main areas of focus when residents were asked ‘what is the one thing you would improve about your area’ (Council Plan consultation 2024) and resident perceptions of safety remain challenging when compared nationally (57% of those surveyed in 2024, felt safe in their local area after dark, against 71% nationally – Resident Satisfaction Survey).
The differences you will see:
Launch a new ‘Street Safe Team’ focused on increasing safety in towns and village centres
To improve feelings of safety and build resilience in town and village centres, we will launch a new Street Safe Team – a visible, uniformed Council presence with dedicated resources and the authority to enforce change. The team will target areas including Rotherham town centre, and the principal towns of Dinnington, Wath, Maltby and Swinton. By gathering local intelligence, they will help to address key issues and provide residents with a reliable point of contact, fostering safety and trust.
Launch a new Safer Rotherham Partnership Plan 2025-28, to build safer neighbourhoods, tackle violence, abuse and exploitation and prevent offending
Through our work with the Safer Rotherham Partnership (SRP), we will develop and implement plans to make Rotherham safe, protect communities and help communities to feel safe. This will include working with partners to tackle crime and local issues like anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol misuse, as well as tackling violence, abuse and exploitation and preventing re-offending. The new SRP plan for 2025-28 will outline current community safety priorities and describe the joint work that is to take place to address these.
Safer roads schemes and initiatives which contribute to Vision Zero and help to improve road safety across the borough
To deliver improvements relating to road safety, we will be working in partnership through the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) to proactively manage risk, eliminating as far as practicable the incidence of death or severe injury on our roads. Vision Zero is an ambitious strategy to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads by 50% by 2030.
