More power to the parishes (From Warrington Guardian)

More power to the parishes

PLANS to give extra powers to parish councils in Warrington will prove vital in the battle against anti-social behaviour according to a Warrington MP.

Helen Southworth, MP for Warrington South, told the Warrington Guardian that the change in the law announced by the Home Office two weeks ago would prove beneficial.

As reported in the Guardian, parish councillors across the borough were concerned that giving them the power to tackle yobs and nuisance neighbours was a case of the Government passing the buck.

They said the powers needed to be properly thought out.

But Mrs Southworth said that the idea was simply to give people on the spot the powers they needed.

She said: "This doesn't mean

that the more serious police work is going to be handed over, it just means that parish councils can tackle some of these issues before they get to that stage.

"This is about a partnership working together to tackle anti-social behaviour.

"In other parts of the country they take on rangers or wardens. If parish councils see that this is a key issue in their area, they can now tackle it."

She explained that the introduction of community support officers (CSOs) in south Warrington, part funded by parish councils in those areas, could take on some of these new powers.

Under the Home Office legis-

lation, parish councils will have the right to hand out on-the-spot fines to people dropping litter, making excessive noise or fly-posting.

Meanwhile, Mrs Southworth said that she hopes there will also be more money available to boost community policing in Warrington.

She added: "This is what my constituents tell me they want: police officers who know their local area.

"And I very much support the idea of local officers having mobile numbers that people can contact them on."