MAYOR PRESENTS PLAN FOR A SAFER SOUTH YORKSHIRE

Published 18 March 2025 at 12:30pm

South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard has unveiled his plan for building a safer South Yorkshire at a special meeting of the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel earlier today (17 March 2025).

The policing priorities for the next four years are set out in the Plan, which was presented to the Panel for their comments, before it is finalised later this month.

This is the first Police and Crime Plan to be published for South Yorkshire since responsibility for policing and crime transferred to the Mayor last year.

Developed following extensive public and partner consultation, the Plan sets out commitments to put victims at the heart of policing and to make sure that South Yorkshire is a safe place to live, learn and work.

Building on the commitments made by the Mayor when he stood for his second term in May last year, public and partners supported five overarching strategic policing and crime priorities:

1. Improving trust and confidence in the police and criminal justice system
2. Preventing and reducing crime and anti-social behaviour
3. Improving safety on all our transport networks
4. Breaking the cycle of offending and harm
5. Tackling the most serious offences and building resilient communities

South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard said: “I am delighted to present my first Police and Crime Plan – a plan for action that sets out clear expectations for policing in South Yorkshire, with the clear aim for our region to become a place where everyone feels safe and secure, whoever and wherever they are.

“South Yorkshire Police is rated as good or outstanding in most areas that were looked at by His Majesty’s Inspectorate, and there are strong partnerships between the police, community safety and criminal justice partners. But I will not hide from the big challenges we face. Knife crime is falling, but the rates of knife crime, along with levels of serious violence and anti-social behaviour, are still too high. Too many young people don’t feel safe on our streets. Violence against women and girls remains prevalent across our society, and we desperately need to bring down the number of people who are killed or seriously injured on our roads every year.

“And we know that South Yorkshire Police is tackling those challenges against a difficult financial backdrop, after years of underinvestment in South Yorkshire by the previous Government, as we continue to pay for the injustices we saw at Hillsborough and elsewhere.    

“That’s why my Plan focuses on the importance of police and partners working together in different ways, to make sure we’re accessing the benefits that come from joining up services through my office, so we can deliver the best possible service to communities, survivors, and victims of crime and anti-social behaviour.”

The development of the Plan has involved an extensive consultation process, with input from local communities, victims, policing professionals and partner organisations.

A series of round table discussions, hosted by the Rt Hon Lord David Blunkett brought together statutory and voluntary partners from across South Yorkshire and the wider criminal justice sector. Those discussions helped to shape the priorities and to set the tone for the partnership approach to delivering the Plan over the coming years.

Over 2,100 people responded to the public consultation that took place between December and January, with four out of five people who responded supporting the proposed priorities. The Plan also takes account of national policing priorities and regional crime reduction strategies.

Police and Crime Panel members were today asked for their views on the Plan before it is finalised and published on the Mayor’s website, before the statutory deadline of 31 March 2025.

Due to the forthcoming pre-election period for local elections starting 24 March, the final Plan will be formally launched alongside the announcement of a Deputy Mayor (Policing and Reform) following the elections in early May.