The Safer Wolverhampton Partnership Strategy, endorsed by the City of Wolverhampton Council's Full Council last night (Wednesday 17 September, 2025) sets out a clear and ambitious vision to create safer, healthier communities where people feel empowered and protected.

It features strategic priorities across 5 themes agreed by key stakeholders from across the city. They are:

• Public Place Violence: Using intelligence to identify hot spot areas, deliver targeted interventions and reduce repeat offending
• Anti-Social Behaviour: Expanding prevention measures, strengthening reporting channels and pursuing robust enforcement where necessary
• Safety of Women and Girls: Improving public spaces, educating young people on healthy behaviours, and simplifying pathways for reporting harassment or violence
• Alcohol and Substance-Related Crime: Disrupting supply chains, enhancing support services, and enforcing public protection measures
• Neighbourhood Crime: Addressing robbery, burglary and theft through community vigilance, education, and coordinated policing.

The strategy will be delivered through a monitored action plan which will be refreshed annually to ensure it adapts to any new crime trends and emerging local challenges.

As well as identifying the key priorities for the year ahead, the draft strategy also reflects on achievements made through the previous strategy.

In the past year alone, reported crime has fallen by 9.5%, with marked declines in serious youth violence, domestic abuse, theft, robbery and burglary, anti-social behaviour and adult reoffending rates.

There has also been significant work to prevent serious youth violence by investing in programmes in schools and the community, with a significant reduction in the number of young people entering the youth justice system.

Meanwhile, the establishment of a new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in the city centre last summer has helped bring about a 16% reduction in recorded crime within its perimeter, including a 50% drop in the number of robberies.

Speaking at Full Council, Councillor Obaida Ahmed, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Community, said: "This is a bold and inclusive strategy for a safer, stronger city. It is built on collaboration, prevention and community empowerment, reflecting the lived experiences of our residents and the challenges that we face together.

"The Safer Wolverhampton Partnership brings together a diverse range of voices, ensuring decisions are data driven and routed in local insight. Our shared vision is clear: we want safe, inclusive and thriving communities where everyone feels protected and heard.

"This is not just about responding to harm, it is about tackling the root causes, inequality, exploitation and exclusion. Through smarter use of data, targeted campaigns and support for victims, we aim to restore public confidence and build resilience. and we are prioritising what matters to our residents, including tackling anti-social behaviour and improving safety for women and girls.

"This strategy is more than a plan; it is a commitment to real lasting change for Wolverhampton."

The draft strategy was presented to Full Council last night after previously having been endorsed by members of the council's Cabinet in July. It is due to be formally launched on Monday 6 October, 2025.

The Safer Wolverhampton Partnership is the statutory Community Safety Partnership and Local Police and Crime Board in Wolverhampton.

It not only develops and delivers strategic plans for the city, but also works to implement section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act, which places a duty on all statutory partners to consider issues of community safety at the centre of their delivery.