Bexley Council has officially approved its Community Safety Strategy for 2026-2030, a comprehensive plan aimed at enhancing safety and tackling crime across the borough. The strategy, developed in partnership with agencies including the police, fire brigade, probation services, and health partners, prioritises four key areas: Anti-Social Behaviour, Serious Violence, Domestic Abuse, and Community Reassurance.

A grid displaying crime statistics for Bexley, comparing the years 2023/24 and 2024/25, with arrows indicating increases or decreases in various offense categories.
Crime statistics for Bexley

The 2025 Joint Strategic Assessment (JSA) identified key risk areas for Bexley over the next four years, including serious violence, domestic abuse, and high-impact anti-social behaviour. The JSA also highlighted the importance of community reassurance, which has been elevated to a cross-cutting priority. The strategy aims to address these by strengthening neighbourhood resilience, deepening partnership working, and utilizing intelligence, technology, and visible reassurance for earlier identification and collective tackling of issues.

Specific initiatives within these priority areas include tackling high-impact crime types, supporting young people, responding swiftly to resident concerns, and ensuring communities are safe and well-protected. The strategy outlines a Serious Violence Strategy, a Domestic Abuse Strategy, and an ASB Action Plan, each with associated working groups overseeing their delivery. For Community Reassurance, a BCSP Communications Plan and Board will oversee delivery.

During the Public Cabinet meeting on April 9, 2026, councillors reviewed the proposed strategy, which builds upon Bexley's existing efforts to maintain its standing as one of London's safest boroughs. The strategy's adoption was recommended to the Council for discussion, with the aim of ensuring Bexley remains a safe borough where residents feel secure.

Bar charts displaying the top 10 crime concerns and top 10 anti-social behaviour concerns, alongside an average safety score.
Top crime and anti-social behaviour concerns

Councillor Chris Taylor highlighted the great innovation which is the NetEngage app and emphasized the need to ensure its data is integrated into strategic decision-making. He noted that patterns of reporting might change due to the app, and it's crucial to capture this data to determine crime types, locations, and resource deployment. The Deputy Director confirmed that reporting is critical for securing policing resources and other necessary resources to address crime and anti-social behaviour.

Councillor Caroline Day requested a breakdown of statistics for residents who do not feel safe. The Deputy Director confirmed that a breakdown could be provided and noted a shift in survey respondents feeling unsafe, with younger people now reporting this more frequently than older populations. The team is aware of this switch and needs to dive into that.

Councillor Melvin Seymour raised a point regarding coercive behaviour, expressing hope that the council would not make it more difficult to pay by cash, as control over bank accounts can be a tool for coercion.

Councillor Brian Bishop, in his final public cabinet meeting before not seeking re-election, thanked Councillor Nadella for her work and noted the perception of crime in Bexley being higher than the reality. He also commented on police numbers and youth funding.

The meeting documents do not provide a specific projected budget for the Community Safety Strategy 2026-2030. However, it is stated that delivery will be achieved through existing partnership resources, core Council budgets, and external programmes. The adoption of the strategy is also expected to strengthen the borough's position when seeking grant funding for violence reduction, domestic abuse support, and community safety initiatives.

Symbol indicating prohibition of knives and firearms, likely related to community safety discussions.
Prohibition of knives and firearms

Further details on the strategy can be found in the Community Safety Strategy cover and the Bexley Community Partnership Strategy 2026-2030.