Wrexham still waiting for Home Office action on anti-social behaviour despite requests from MP

An invitation to Home Office Ministers to support work on anti-social behaviour has still not been replied to – a month after it was sent.

In November 2017 Wrexham.com reported that Wrexham MP Ian Lucas had written to Under Secretary of State for Vulnerability, Safeguarding and Countering Extremism, Victoria Atkins, calling for support with work being done to tackle issues with anti-social behaviour in the town centre.

Mr Lucas also requested that the minister met with himself and a group from Wrexham to discuss the efforts being made in the town.

Some of the work being done in Wrexham has already received financial backing – with funds being allocated to help homeless people by the late Carl Sargeant as Communities Minister in the Welsh Government during the summer.

However Mr Lucas says the letter to the Home Office, which was sent several weeks ago, has yet to receive a reply.

Mr Lucas said: “I am very disappointed that the Home Office have not taken up my invitation to see the work being done in Wrexham.

“The council secured funding from the Welsh Government to help homeless people shortly after raising the issue with them, but in contrast the Home Office have yet to even reply when we raised issues about Novel Psychoactive Substances.

“There is further work going on in Parliament on ways to tackle NPS – alongside David Hanson MP and Lucy Powell MP, I’ll be taking part on a Parliamentary investigation into the subject in the New Year – but, so far, that work is not receiving the attention it deserves from the Home Office.

“Support from Ministers should be in the form of funding – and, at the very least, I would expect Ministers to take some kind of interest and pay some kind of attention.

“So far, that just isn’t happening.”