Funding for Leven police anti-social behaviour plan as 90% improvement revealed

Levenmouth Area Committee has agreed again to invest money into local police resourcing to keep anti-social behaviour under control.

For over a decade, the issue of anti-social behaviour, most notably focused on the illegal use of motorcycles and quad bikes, has been considered a priority concern, both amongst elected members and local communities.

According to Inspector Matt Spencer, from Police Scotland, there has been a 90% year-on-year reduction in motorbike related calls between 2019 and 2023 since those investments began. However, he emphasised that there is a continuing need for investment and prevention in the community.

“It’s absolutely an issue that's still there. We still need to deal with it despite us being five years down the line and reporting a 90% improvement,” he said. “It’s something we still need to be mindful of.”

The committee invested a total of £48,165 to cover the cost of anti-social police prevention measures for a full 12-months from April to March 2025. The new funding agreement will allow Police Scotland to provide a dedicated team of two officers with a focus on anti-social behaviour work and other priorities. The money builds on five years of previous work and investment.

Councillors scrutinised past anti-social prevention programmes and asked Inspector Spencer to quantify the progress that has been made.

“One of the biggest questions we get asked in policing is about the preventive element. You can’t quantify that or put a figure or cost on it,” he said. “It's difficult to say how many incidents could have happened if we hadn’t enforced or prevented them. All you can look at is the total key figures - with [the prevention programmes] there’s been a 90% improvement.”

Councillor David Alexander (SNP for Leven, Kennoway and Largo) added: “There are some things we shouldn’t even try to put a value to and community safety is one of them.”

Not only did councillors agree to a cold-hard cash investment for this financial year, but they agreed that similar levels of funding should be made available - in principle - for 2025/26 and 2026/27. Councillor Colin Davidson, Levenmouth Area Committee convener, said this in principle funding would "give surety to the programme" and give Police confidence to continue their programme.

“Levenmouth has been leading the way on this issue and it’s clear that the approach led by Police Scotland here has been really effective,” said Cllr Davidson. “This additional resource is aimed at breaking the cyclical nature of these anti-social behaviour incidents, and also means ongoing and robust enforcement action can be taken when appropriate.”