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Wardens' work will continue
I'D like to respond to your article about the council's neighbourhood wardens.
The neighbourhood warden service had to be reviewed following the withdrawal of the neighbourhood renewal fund grant for the city.
Last year NRF reduced from 14.9m to 8.9m, and next year there won't be any NRF grant at all.
The council is not making a 200,000 saving as suggested – in fact we're having to find funds to manage the effects of the loss of this grant and ensure the valuable community role of wardens continues.
Changes to the service certainly won't mean chaos on our streets.
The review found that over 70 per cent of the wardens' time is spent addressing environmental issues, not community safety or antisocial behaviour.
Along with other services they have contributed to significant improvements in street cleanliness, with unacceptable levels of litter and detritus on the streets falling from 27 per cent in 2004/05 to 14 per cent in 2008/09.
The new community environmental officers will continue to patrol our most deprived estates and work as part of a team addressing the issues of most concern.
They will have the power not only to report problems but to tackle them effectively through enforcement action.
Responsibility for tackling crime and antisocial behaviour continues to be a key priority and the council has invested 2.3m in PCSOs, CCTV and ASB over the last two years.
The five PCSOs per ward have been successful in reducing the amount of crime on our streets, and we're also supporting neighbourhood policing.
This approach will ensure that we continue to improve community safety for all the people of Leeds.
Councillor Les Carter, Executive Member for Neighbourhoods and Housing, Leeds City Council
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Weather for Leeds
Thursday 24 May 2012
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