Plans to tackle anti-social behaviour in Leeds' main student areas criticised as 'out of touch'

It comes after Leeds Beckett and the University of Leeds announced that they have provided additional funding to create a stronger partnership between themselves, the student unions, Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Police.

These plans include increased proactive work to discourage noise nuisance, anti-social behaviour and waste and environmental crimes such as littering and fly-tipping

Enforcement capability will be increased when issues to arise, while two full-time response officers will be dedicated to the area seven days a week, working from 5pm to 4am and proactively monitoring these concerns.

Two police community support officers (PCSOs) will continue to support response officers on Friday and Saturday night.

The new measures are due to be in place by January, with existing arrangements continuing in the meantime.

However, Brandon Ashford, a Woodhouse resident and the Liberal Democrat candidate for Headingley and Hyde Park claimed the plans are "lip service".

He said: "Having read through the response, we can safely conclude that this 'official response' is only paying lip service to an issue that requires actual work to be done to tackle anti-social behaviour.

"After 10 years of talk and limited action, we see that the councillors and universities have no real plan of action to deal with this community crisis and residents can only expect more of the same moving forward.

"What was very clear was that they are out of touch with the on-the-ground reality of the situation."

Mr Ashford, who has previously called for a public forum, specifically criticised that the resources won't be in place until January 2022, stating that it was not soon enough as "residents are at breaking point".

He also criticised that the PSPO is only being enforced over couple of streets in Leeds, around Headingley Mount and the Estcourts..

Mr Ashford said: "For years they have been saying that they will invest more resources into the ASB services and they would take stronger action to deal with ASB when their students are involved.

"But in the grand scheme of things, once again residents have been misled and let down. Yes, more resources are needed, however, many of the issues with the ASB services are fundamentally systemic and something which pumping money into it won't work.

"Residents have asked for stronger enforcement of the PSPO, instead, they get a trial in a couple of streets 1.5 years after being told it would help resolve issues.

"Residents have long asked for this issue to be taken seriously as the current systems aren't working, instead, they have their concerns glossed over with a splash of cash without any real system change."

He added: "I've spoken to many other residents since this was released and many of them feel downtrodden and defeated by this.

"Residents should not have to be out at night policing their streets and putting themselves at risk because the systems in place aren't designed to deal with the issue, but they have no choice."

A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “We are proud of the work we are doing, with partners, to ensure the inner north west Leeds area is a safe, clean and attractive place to live for all members of the community.

“Our strengthened partnership approach, made possible by funding from Leeds Beckett University and the University of Leeds, will help with proactive work to discourage noise nuisance, anti-social behaviour and waste and environmental crimes such as littering and fly-tipping while also supporting enhanced enforcement capability when the need arises.

"These new measures will be in place by January and it should be noted that our long-standing work tackling issues of concern in the area is continuing in the meantime.

“With regard to the implementation of the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) for the Headingley & Hyde Park, Weetwood and Little London & Woodhouse wards, its environmental aspects require, by law, significant preparatory work, evidence gathering and street-by-street engagement with local residents before enforcement activity such as the issuing of fines can take place.

"The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, both in terms of council staffing resources and the number of temporarily unoccupied properties, means that, until recently, it was not possible for us to carry out that required groundwork.

"A strategic approach is now being taken to the rollout of the environmental side of the PSPO, with initial activity focusing on streets in inner north west Leeds where we can achieve the most effective results.”