Jenny Willott, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central, has urged the Government to look at the successes of cities like Cardiff in preventing the type of violence seen in London and other major cities.
Speaking during the recall of Parliament, Jenny urged the Prime Minister, and the Home Affairs Select Committee, to look at the excellent work of the police and community groups in helping stop riots before they happened in places such as Cardiff.
Cardiff has a good record of managing community cohesion involving the police, the Council, voluntary groups and community leaders in regular discussions. During the riots the Council put extra resources into communities, such as deploying more youth workers, to help prevent tension building up.
Commenting Jenny said:
“Enquiries into the horrific violence and criminal behaviour that we saw across England over the last week must look at the causes of and response to the riots in those areas.
“But it is equally important to look at how police and communities in Cardiff and elsewhere managed to defuse potential disorder without violence and learn from this too.
“South Wales Police have done a brilliant job not only over the last week in helping prevent problems, but also in the longer term by helping to build strong links within the community which are vital in helping discourage this type of criminality.
“I am also very proud of the strong support South Wales Police has given to London to tackle the violence there.”
Deputy Leader of Cardiff Council, Councillor Judith Woodman added:
“Working in partnership has helped to ensure Cardiff has not suffered like other cities. Some minor incidents occurred involving disused buildings, but these were dealt with immediately by the council to ensure they were made secure with little visible signs of damage.
“Having a daily dialogue with all our partners ensured we were all focussed and working together, but each knowing what the other was doing to get that result “.
