Alan Johnson and Hilary Benn have today outlined plans to toughen existing laws to protect the public from dangerous dogs.
Key points
We are stepping up the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour. The Tories refuse to protect frontline policing; and they would make it harder for the Police to use DNA to catch dangerous criminals.
Crime is down by more than a third since 1997. There are nearly 17,000 more Police; and neighbourhood policing teams are in every area of the country, committed to spending 80 per cent of their time on the beat.
But more needs to be done to tackle the fear of crime and give power to communities to fight back against Anti-Social Behaviour.
Hilary Benn and Alan Johnson today outline plans to toughen existing laws to protect the public from dangerous dogs. The aim of the consultation launched today is to review and streamline current legislation to better protect the public; help enforcers tackle those who abuse the law; and stop the abuse suffered by dogs that end up in the wrong hands.
The consultation looks at:
Extending dangerous dogs laws to cover all places including private property;
Giving police and councils more powers to tackle the problem of dangerous dogs by the introduction of Dog Control Notices;
Considering removing exemption rules that allow some people to keep banned types of dogs or if exemptions are to remain ensuring that the system works more effectively;
Introduction of compulsory microchipping for dogs so that dog owners can be more easily traced; and
Introduction of compulsory third party insurance so that victims of dog attacks are financially recompensed.
The proposals on tackling dangerous dogs are part of government's commitment to tackling not tolerating anti-social behaviour by giving local authorities the powers they need to tackle the problem.
TAKE A LONG HARD LOOK AT THE TORIES ON CRIME
Alan Johnson has today launched a video highlighting the risk the Tories pose to crime and safety.
When it comes to crime, David Cameron is more concerned with headlines than policies. That's why he talks Britain down by deliberately misleading the public about crime figures even though his party has been censured by the Statistics Authority for doing this.
The reality is the Conservatives have voted against Labour's measures to fight crime including opposing changes to the retention of DNA evidence - making it harder for the police to catch criminals. And they have campaigned against the use of CCTV which reduces the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour.
Alan Johnson MP, Labour's Home Secretary said:
"Labour wants to see a future fair for all and today I am setting out the tough action we are taking to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
While crime has been cut by over a third since 1997 and Labour is protecting front line policing the Conservatives have refused to say if they would protect the police budget.
Labour is clear about what we will do to keep people safe -the Tories' refusal to reveal their own plans should not go unchallenged. Nor should their election candidates be able to continually mislead the public with dodgy crime statistics.
I am urging people today to take a long hard look at the Tories' policies on crime and particularly the fact that they would make it harder for the police to use DNA to catch criminals. Our hard hitting short film exposes how weak the Tories are when it comes to fighting crime.
The Conservatives have campaigned against the use of CCTV, which the evidence shows reduces the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour. They have made clear they would water down the police's ability to use DNA evidence - making it harder to convict the most dangerous criminals."