Community Safety Partnership Statement

Representatives from agencies across Spelthorne and Surrey, who form part of the Surrey Community Safety Partnership, met on Tuesday 14 February, to discuss the co-ordinated approach to the investigations and ongoing community engagement following the racially aggravated assault which took place near Thomas Knyvett School in Ashford on Monday 6 February.

The Partnership strongly agrees that there is no place for racism in Surrey and the incident must be met by a unified response from key partners that support all communities in the Borough. We understand that challenges lie ahead. By working together, racism, discrimination and intolerance can be reduced by bringing together communities through improved cohesion and education.

We know that a number of children were involved in this incident and our priority, as a Partnership, is to ensure they are all appropriately supported and safeguarded. The partnership will continue to work together and will be sharing further updates on action taken to support the community, keep residents safe and ensure our children can go to school in a fair and inclusive environment.

Surrey Community Safety Partnership Agencies: Spelthorne Borough Council, Surrey County Council, Surrey Police, NHS, Thomas Knyvett College, The Howard Partnership Trust, Surrey Gypsy Traveller Communities Forum and Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum.