Birmingham Conservative councillors called for urgent action on violent crime – but the Labour administration says it’s already a ‘top priority’
Alexander Brock Local Democracy Reporter
20:00, 03 Dec 2025
Councillor Robert Alden, leader of the Conservatives at Birmingham City Council(Image: Nick Wilkinson/Birmingham Live)
Councillors have clashed over calls to declare a public safety emergency and “make Birmingham safe again”.
Conservative councillors recently urged the Labour-run authority to adopt their proposed action plan to ‘make Brum safer’ amid recent stabbings in the city centre.
The plan included setting up a high street safety task force, including business groups, to tackle the issue of violent and sexual crimes.
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But the Labour administration criticised the move by the opposition, saying work is already under way to tackle violence and accusing the Conservatives of “playing politics”.
The Conservative’s motion for debate, which calls for a public safety emergency to be declared, was discussed at a full council meeting this week.
The motion said the council should introduce a number of measures, including:
- Calling on West Midlands Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner to conduct an “urgent review” of resources permanently allocated to town centres/high streets and hotspots, and ramp up dedicated patrols.
- The reallocation of existing council emergency resources, where possible, to support crime-prevention measures, including “switching back on/replacing streetlights previously dimmed”.
But Birmingham Labour amended the motion to reflect the work it says is already being undertaken to tackle violent crime in the city and to remove the declaration of a public safety emergency.
Birmingham Labour cabinet member Councillor Jamie Tennant/Robert Alden, leader of Conservative group at Birmingham Council(Image: Council webcast/Alexander Brock)
“Let’s be clear about what undermines public confidence in this city” Conservative councillor Robert Alden said at the meeting. “It is serious crimes happening on our streets and the elected politicians refusing to do anything about it.
“Pretending these issues are false narratives is dangerous, a mistake and fails the residents in our great city.
“That’s why it’s a shame to see the amendment that’s come forward from the Labour group.”
“The call for action […] made no finger of blame in the motion against [Birmingham Labour] – it merely asked the whole chamber to come together and make Birmingham safe again,” the Conservative councillor added.
Councillor Jamie Tennant, the cabinet member for community safety, acknowledged last week that recent violent attacks had “shocked our city” and stressed that tackling the issue has been a “top priority”.
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“We continue to work with the police and our partners to tackle the scourge of knife crime and combat violence against women and girls,” the Labour councillor said in a statement.
“As a council we must work to make our city safe whilst countering false narratives that undermine public confidence.”
He continued that from this week, the council will have doubled the number of Community Safety Officers working across the city.
“The council is already working with police to develop an action plan to make our city centre safer,” Coun Tennant said.
“The Conservative Group will have the chance to play a constructive role in its development.”
Birmingham City Council House(Image: Alexander Brock)
Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, Coun Tennant said: “Violence is never acceptable and our thoughts are very much with the families of those who have been affected and the victims of any attack.
“We have a duty to be honest and not to scaremonger and spread fear.
“While there has been some horrendous attacks in the past few months, crime is falling.
“The trends […] are going in the right direction and our amendment adds some of that context and some of the work already under way.”
He previously criticised the opposition party, arguing that the West Midlands had lost hundreds of experienced police officers under successive Conservative governments.
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“Labour is already beginning to put that right through increasing funding and rolling out more Designated Neighbourhood Officers,” he said.
Coun Tennant also added at the meeting that the council was already upgrading lighting in various parts of the city centre and highlighted the work being done with the youth service to tackle the issues “at their roots”.
The amended motion was ultimately passed through.
“It is very disappointing that Labour rejected calls for a public safety emergency to be declared,” Coun Alden said afterwards.
“There was a basic consensus on certain points such as the importance of increasing visible safety, calling on West Midlands Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner to ramp up dedicated patrols.
Leader of Birmingham City Council John Cotton(Image: Nick Wilkinson/Birmingham Mail)
“But much more is needed.”
Council leader John Cotton previously said the authority was committed to tackling knife crime through “coordinated prevention, education, and enforcement efforts.”
The council also said recently that it regularly “inspects, maintains and rectifies faults” on its streetlighting across the city and has taken a number of measures, including an £8m programme of replacing ageing lighting with modern LED types.
‘Serious youth violence has fallen’
Following recent incidents in the city centre, West Midlands Police (WMP) said last month that it would increase patrols in central Birmingham.
“Our patrols are supported by resources from across West Midlands Police, as well as partners including Birmingham City Council and safety officers from the Central BID,” the force said.
“Project Servator deployments also take place regularly around the city centre to keep you safe, by providing a reassuring presence for the public and disrupting a range of criminality.
“Highly-visible specialist uniformed officers are on-hand to speak to anyone with concerns, and deployments also include plain clothes officers who are trained to spot the signs someone may be planning or preparing to commit a crime.”
The police force also recently said extra officers would be on the streets as it continues work to reduce knife crime and serious youth violence around the region.
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It has expanded its Project Guardian Taskforce, which now has 50 officers dedicated to it – including two teams in Birmingham.
“The work of the taskforce is having an impact,” West Midlands Police said. “The teams recover hundreds of weapons and make hundreds of arrests every year.
“Recent crime figures revealed knife crime has reduced by 16 per cent and serious youth violence has fallen by more than 13 per cent in the region.
“At WMP, we’re involved in enforcement and education to deter young people from carrying weapons as we know the life-changing impact they can have.
“We work with partners through the Violence Reduction Partnership to divert young people away from crime.”