Transport safety officers could soon be patrolling buses in Stoke-on-Trent, monitoring and taking action of anti-social behaviour.

It has been recently announced to councillors that funding has been obtained from the Department for Transport to provide six transport officers. 

These officers will be travelling on key routes on the bus network to reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour. The funding has not yet landed but officers will be working from Hanley Bus Station in Longton to stamp out ASB and provide data for targeted interventions. 

The transport officers will be tasked with the objective to: reduce incidents of ASB on transport networks; improve guardianship and feelings of safety by providing visible presence; improve customer experience when utilising the transport network;raise awareness of the need to report ASB and improve data quality to enable more effective targeted interventions. However, the powers that the officers have has not yet been agreed with the Chief Constable, Chris Noble, however, the Community Safety Team have said they will be able to take "appropriate action"

The officers will travel on key routes across Stoke-on-Trent to reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour (Nub News).

The report to the Housing, Development and Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee at Stoke-on-Trent City Council states: "The Community Safety Team have worked closely to support colleagues from the Transport Team to develop and submit a bid for over £500k of Department of Transport Funding to ultimately secure and deploy six Transport Safety Officers to key sites and routes on the transport network."

This is part of a wider action plan on ASB that councillors were briefed on. Other measures included environmental improvement in Longton and Burslem Park including enhanced lighting, CCTV, which is designed to reduce ASB and improve feelings of safety.

Speaking to councillors an officer for the Community Safety Team said: "I am pleased to be able to report that the Department for Transport has provided £500,000 of funding, which will fund six transport safety officers to work from Hanley Bus Station down into Longton. That funding has not arrived yet but it will and we're working with the Chief Constable around the power that these officers will require, so they can take action appropriately." 

Transport Minister Richard Holden said: "Antisocial behaviour is completely unacceptable – I want to see it eradicated from our public transport. As part of the Government's Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, these new specially trained officers will help drive offenders off local networks, so that people can travel on their local train, tram and bus with peace of mind.

"The pilot will also give us a greater understanding of what works when it comes to tackling antisocial behaviour, enabling us to continue improving journeys for passengers in the future."

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