Scott Benton: Blackpool Council refutes MP's claim in Parliament its social care team interferes with police work

The suggestion that police were being held back was made by Blackpool South MP Scott Benton during an address in Parliament.

Conservative member Mr Benton told MPs on Thursday October 13 that the youths had committed ‘hundreds’ of offences and said: “The ringleader is an 11-year-old boy who has been responsible for over 80 different offences, including assaulting a female police officer.

“Sadly the efforts of Lancashire Police to bring him to justice have been compromised by Blackpool Council’s children’s directorate, who refuse to criminalise teenagers.”

Only this week a Blackpool councillor warned that people living in some parts of Talbot and Brunswick wards were too scared to leave their homes because of unruly children running riot.

Coun Bradley Mitchell said he recently joined the police on a walk around those areas where one of the worst offenders was a child aged just 11 years old.

But the Labour-run council has hit back an any suggestions by Mr Benton of interference in police work.

A spokesman said: “It is completely untrue to suggest that there has been any interference from children’s social care in the work of the police to address criminal acts or youth antisocial behaviour.

"There is strong evidence of joint working across our town.

"The police, local authority and local community organisations have worked hard to address the concerns of local residents and engage vulnerable children and young people in positive activities.

"Whilst some serious and impactful issues remain, we have seen a drop in the number of incidents in the specific wards concerned.

“The Youth Justice Partnership in Blackpool rightly takes a ‘child first' approach to antisocial behaviour among children, but this does not mean that offending is taken lightly.

"To suggest that an 11-year-old is the ringleader of a gang of teenagers is both harmful to individual children and detracts from the issue of county lines, where vulnerable children are exploited to commit criminal acts to protect adults from arrest and prosecution.”

As part of the council’s joint response to antisocial behaviour in some central wards, Blackpool is to receive a partnership award from the government's national £300m Turnaround programme, which includes £60m for schemes to help stop youngsters falling into crime. The spokesman added: “Sadly, despite the announcement being made here in Blackpool in May of this year and that funding would commence from October, we have since been advised by the Ministry of Justice that they are not yet able to confirm the details with us and we are unable to progress this vital work.”

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “We have increased police presence with extra neighbourhood officers, plain-clothed officers and mounted officers.

“We are taking the concerns of anti-social behaviour seriously and will proactively target those responsible.

"While we will continue to work with and offer support to these young people and their families, we will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute offenders where required.

“We will continue to work closely with our partners to deal with these issues.”

If anyone has any information about issues in the area, they can call 101, ringing 999 in an emergency or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.