Project which saw £200k of illegal cigarettes seized in Lincoln Road area faces funding challenge

The Alliance project in Peterborough, led by Cambridgeshire Constabulary in partnership with Peterborough City Council, was formed in 2023 and aims to tackle serious organised crime through the Home Office’s Clear, Hold and Build strategy.

It focuses on disrupting criminal groups, maintaining safe spaces and building resilient communities.

Analysis in 2022 identified that the Millfield/Lincoln Road area of Peterborough was an appropriate location for the project.

Joint enforcement between the police and council has seen a number of successes, including: 700,000 cigarettes seized at a value of £200,000, 20,000 vapes seized at a value of between £20,000 and £40,000, £115,000 cash seized, multiple seizures of cannabis, heroin, and crack cocaine, and a number of closure orders on premises in the Lincoln Road area.

The project has also seen an increased number of community engagement activities with police and local groups to promote the project aims, as well as activities aimed at young people.

Despite the achievements made, the project faces a number of challenges including a lack of interest from community groups and a lack of funding from the government.

A report to be put before a council scrutiny committee on July 10 stated: "There is limited capacity and interest within community groups to engage within Alliance.

"Whilst there have been pockets of work on specific projects, it remains challenging to gain more widespread community involvement.

"There is no funding available from the Home Office to develop projects or initiatives. This makes investing in community-based projects difficult to achieve unless external grant funding opportunities can be identified."

A review of the Alliance project is currently underway which will look at ways to address these issues.

The council's economy, inclusive growth and environment scrutiny committee is recommended to review and comment on the progress of Alliance to date, as well as review the future delivery of the project.

Future recommendations for delivery of the project include:

• 'Review of current structure – consider reducing or removing working groups and forming a single joint problem-solving group focusing on fewer, targeted priorities. This should help address capacity issues and provide greater clarity to partners and the community
• Open up face to face meetings in the community spaces in the area and increase communication between community leaders and residents via attendance at events and supporting communities where possible by showing a presence and feeding back to the community regularly with updates on priorities
• Re-map the geographical area for Alliance – following on from disruption, enforcement, and engagement activity, focus on the most significant area
• Develop 2-3 priorities for multi-agency delivery to run alongside the ongoing focus of disrupting crime