Burglary, robbery, and serious youth violence are priorities for Redbridge police and partners to tackle in the coming year, Redbridge councillors decided last night.

At a full council meeting at Redbridge Town Hall, High Road, Ilford, members approved the borough’s community safety partnership plan and �2.6m funding to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

The strategy is drawn up between the police, Redbridge Council and partners such as Redbridge Council for Voluntary Services.

The other two priorities are vulnerable and repeat victims and drug and alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour.

Measures to tackle burglary, which increased by 4.5 per cent in the last year, include the use of “memo-cams” - security cameras with motion sensors to capture images of burglars.

Cllr Shoaib Patel, the cabinet member for community safety, said: “[The 4.5 per cent increase] is a significant reduction on the 19 per cent increase we saw at one stage during the year, and we are looking at this with extreme care which is why it remains a top priority in the plan.”

He pointed to steps taken to tackle the problem including a “Report It” campaign and a drug intervention programme.

�1.5m is available for community safety, including �450,000 for the anti-social behaviour team.

Children’s services, including the youth offending service, will receive �1.1m.

Cllr Wes Streeting, a Labour councillor for Chadwell ward, welcomed the strategy but said wider staffing cuts to the Met Police could have an impact.

He said: “It’s easy to say we’ll cut out the back office, but when we do, the officers who should be on the beat spend their time in police stations filling out reports.”

Cllr Gurdial Bharma, a Labour councillor for Clayhall ward, said the council must ensure Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) are adequately staffed.

Cllr Richard Hoskins, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Church End ward, said SNTs must be based in the areas they police.

Get next Thursday’s Recorder for full details of the council meeting.