Labour conference: Party promises to bring back neighbourhood policing

Labour says it will "bring back neighbourhood policing" in England and Wales if it wins the next election.

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds will promise to "tackle the epidemic of anti-social behaviour".

And he will say the Tories are "soft on crime and soft on the causes of crime", in a speech to Labour's conference.

The proposals include a roll-out of police hubs in communities and a recruitment drive for special constables.

At the conference being held in Brighton, shadow education secretary Kate Green will also unveil Labour's Covid recovery plan for children.

The party wants to extend the school day for new activities, such as art and sport, as well as small group tutoring and mental health support.

In her speech on Tuesday, Ms Green will challenge new Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi to deliver a "recovery guarantee" that ensures every child "thrives on new opportunities to learn, play and develop - just as Labour's plan would enable them to do".

Unveiling its proposals on combatting crime, the party is pointing to figures from the Office for National Statistics, which say the number of people claiming they never see a police officer on foot patrol has doubled since 2010.

And Home Office data shows the number of special constables - volunteer officers who support police on the frontline - have fallen by 6,300 in the same timeframe.

Mr Thomas-Symonds will tell conference: "With me as home secretary, if there is trouble on your street, Labour will make sure that someone is there.

"You will see officers on the beat."

He will promise a national rollout of police hubs, giving a place for the public to talk to their local force and other agencies about concerns in the area.

Each hub will have a Neighbourhood Prevention Team, made up of police, community support officers, youth workers and local authority staff.

And their aim will be to increase police presence in communities and ensure crime - especially anti-social behaviour - is tackled quickly.

Other policies include a major recruitment drive to increase the number of special constables and a new Child Exploitation Register for those convicted of modern slavery offences linked to county lines drug dealing.

Mr Thomas-Symonds will also use the speech to attack the current government's performance on tackling crime.

"In Tory Britain, people say you never see police on the beat any more," he will say.

"That school children feel afraid at the bus stop, that people feel unsafe going out after dark, this is the price of years of Tory cuts to neighbourhood policing.

"The Conservatives are the party of crime and disorder. They are soft on crime and soft on the causes of crime."

But Tory chairman Oliver Dowden said it was Labour who had "shown time and time again that they are weak on crime and weak on the causes of crime".

He added: "Only the Conservatives are getting on with the job of keeping the British people safe: by recruiting 20,000 more officers, boosting police funding to record levels, and introducing tougher sentences for child murderers, drink drivers, and those convicted of serious violent and sexual offences."