Crime commissioner wants YOUR views on how to make nights out in Northampton and Kettering safer

Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold will kick off a major review of the night-time economy in Northampton and Kettering by seeking the public’s views on how town centres can be made safer.

Mr Mold is working with partners to improve safety of people — particularly women and girls — after dark and the survey is part of a new programme of work being delivered in partnership with Night Time Economy Solutions (NTES) — a Nottingham-based company that finds creative answers to enduring problems of safety in the night-time economy.

He said: “We’re doing everything we can to make sure that people who enjoy nights out in Kettering and Northampton feel as safe as they possibly can be. The funding we’ve secured from the Safer Streets scheme is delivering practical benefits to achieve this but we also want to hear the views of people who use the night-time economy and understand how they think we can improve things further.”

The survey asks people why they visit the town centres, what they don’t like and what experiences and venues they would like to see more of.

■ The survey can be accessed here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NorthamptonNTE2

NTES will deliver bespoke training sessions to police on women’s safety and working in the night-time economy, and work with Northampton Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID) to help venues diversify from focusing on late-night alcohol sales.

It will also carry out two overnight ‘audits’ in Northampton and Kettering to assess safety of women with a final report then offering recommendations for improvement and a new ‘women’s safety charter’.

The work forms part of the Safer Streets scheme following Mr Mold’s successful bid to the Home Office for almost £500,000 in funding.

Work will also include increasing pedestrians’ safety as they move about in Northampton; extra lighting and installing alley gates.

ID scan technology at around 30 venues in Northampton and Kettering can report people behaving inappropriately or dangerously, improving security for pubs and clubs open past 1am.

Northampton BID operations manager, Mark Mullen, said: “The night-time economy is vitally important to our town centre. We want to ensure everyone is able to stay safe while enjoying themselves on a night out.”