On Wednesday a debate in the House of Commons took place at the request of the Labour Party on the subject of “Organised Crime: Young Peoples Safety” and at the end of the debate Ben Wallace who is the Minister of State for Security and Economic Crime made the following comment:

“One thing that I see from my desk at the Home Office—the hon. Member for Gedling will have seen this—is lots of people not bidding for funds. Colleagues understandably come and complain, and I say, “But your force or local authority didn’t actually bid into it.” I am very happy to share that with anyone if they come and say that they have seen the fund and no one has got it in their community. I can find out about it, and we will go together. We will go to Brighton and say, “Why didn’t you bid for it?” Not everybody can have the funds, but it is interesting that there are some who always bid and get them and some who never bid at all.”

It seems concerning that either Brighton and Hove Council or possibly Sussex Police or the Police and Crime Commissioner did not bid for funds to help keep young people safe if what Ben Wallace is saying is correct. Perhaps Daniel Yates, Caroline Lucas, Peter Kyle, Lloyd Russell-Moyle or Katy Bourne will be able to explain what we did not bid for and if it was something that would have been useful?