Universities urged to fund policing in student areas
UNIVERSITIES should pay towards policing in their cities to enforce the “rule of six”, residents’ groups have said, amid rising concern about students flouting the law to throw house parties.
Vice-chancellors have been urged to pay for extra night patrols in student areas to ensure compliance with the rules on social gatherings.
It comes as hundreds of thousands of students begin to return to university for the start of the new academic year.
“Every year we have the most horrendous house parties,” said Kattie Kincaid, chair of South East Fallowfield Residents’ Group in south Manchester.
She said residents feel that universities in Manchester are “introducing the problem to our area and then they are walking away from it”, adding that they should fund extra policing to keep students in line.
Manchester-based universities provide funding for Community Night Time Support Patrols throughout the academic year. But Ms Kincaid, 54, a recruitment consultant, said this is not enough. “They are just two men from a private security firm who go around in a van and act as professional witnesses, they do not have any powers,” she said. Dr Richard Tyler, the local co-ordinator for the Houses in Multiple Occupation lobby in Leeds, which is an umbrella group for a dozen community groups, said residents are “very much concerned” about the return of students to the city.
“We would like to see Leeds University pay for policing in student areas,” he said. “The students are trickling back at the moment and we will have 65,000 students coming to Leeds over the next week or so.”
A Leeds University spokesman said:
‘Universities are introducing the problem to our area and then they are walking away from it’
“We understand there are concerns about adherence to the new social gathering rules by students in Leeds. This is an issue we take extremely seriously.” The university said it operates a neighbourhood helpline service and works closely with the council, police and community groups.
Vice-chancellors of universities in and around Manchester issued a joint statement reminding students to act responsibly and said they would impose sanctions “for students who do not adhere to rules on safe behaviours”.