Project Shield is saved in spite of funding from Government ending

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Susan Dungworth has announced that Project Shield, which targets ASB and serious violence hotspots, will continue. A financial reorganisation has come to pass after councillors were told in February that central government funding for the project would not extend to 2026/27. In May 2025, the project was given £1.8million from the Government's Hotspot Action Fund. The PCC will now use alternative funding pots to continue the programme and has negotiated contributions from all partners of the project. The PCC said:"When I launched Project Shield with our partners, we all knew the Home Office Hotspot Action Fund was never a long term fix - it was about kick-starting focused enhanced work and it really kick-started something good for our force area. "That's why my office has been holding workshops and planning meetings to bring everyone together - determined to save it. "It's made such an impact in communities needing extra support and police presence and it's not just helped ASB numbers fall, people are telling me they feel safer thanks to Project Shield. "I'm grateful to all partners as the backing has been brilliant and we are exploring new ways of working to keep Project Shield as part of regular business." The new plans will see the continuation of local authority and transport patrols supporting regular neighbourhood policing patrols in key areas. Further police patrols will be delivered via the Home Office Knife Crime Concentration Fund as part of works supporting Project Shield led by Northumbria Police.