A SURVEY has found that schemes within Caerphilly county borough, introduced to reduce levels of crime and anti-social behaviour in the area, are working well.

The Safer Caerphilly Community Safety Partnership has welcomed the news that work carried out during 2013 has seen real benefits to communities across Caerphilly county borough.

Over the last year, work has continued to take place to make Caerphilly county borough a safer place to live, work and visit.

Among the schemes to have worked as part of the partnership are the Safer Caerphilly Victim’s Champion, which provided a comprehensive support package to 327 victims of anti-social behaviour while the partnership also funded the Caerphilly Care and Repair Service to provide safety equipment to 29 vulnerable victims.

More than 500 additional youth activity places were also offered to young people as part of the Project Bernie scheme, which raised awareness of the problems associated with deliberate grass fires.

The 2013 Household Survey, which is a biennial survey undertaken by Caerphilly council to determine levels of satisfaction with various aspects of life in the area, received 2,280 responses according to the authority.

The survey found that 64 per cent of respondents agree that the police and council are dealing with anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter in the area. This figure is up from 58 per cent who agreed with the same statement in the last Household Survey in 2011.

In addition, 76 per cent of respondents felt that levels of crime had got better over the past two years, and 69 per cent felt that levels of anti-social behaviour had got better during the same period across the county borough.

The Safer Caerphilly Community Safety Partnership is provided part of its funding from the Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner’s Commissioning Fund.

Ian Johnston, the Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “It’s great to hear about such positive results generated through effective partnership working in the community.

“Initiatives such as this one complement some of the priorities outlined in my Police and Crime plan which is to ensure that the people of Gwent are less affected by anti-social behaviour and are protected from serious harm.”

David Poole, cabinet member for community and leisure services, added: “These are pleasing results which have come about as a result of continued hard work from a large number of organisations, volunteers and communities across our county borough.”