A letter written by the Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Thames Valley about proposals to reduce street lighting is "of serious concern" and "fails" to address evidence on street lighting, Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) says.
This comes after PCC Matthew Barber wrote a letter to OCC to raise "serious" concerns about proposals to reduce street lighting.
Mr Barber wrote to the leader of Oxfordshire County Council, Liz Leffman, raising 'serious concerns' that the council’s proposals to reduce street lighting across the county will present a significant risk to both public safety and public confidence.
The proposals include several variants with the default and majority position that street lighting will be switched off between 11pm and 6:30am, rather than remaining on all night as most lights currently do.
Mr Barber said if approved by the Cabinet later this month, the proposals would come into effect without wider public consultation.
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Mr Barber said: “Badly lit streets can exacerbate both the risk of crime and the fear of crime.
“One of my greatest areas of concern is for the safety of women and vulnerable members of the public, particularly on a night out."
OCC says that many areas are "likely to be exempt" from the changes for "safety reasons". These include subways and underpasses, town centres supporting a night-time economy and alleyways.
"While current proposals do not suggest changes in town centres around the night time economy, we know that both the fear of crime and the actual risk is not limited to town centres itself," said Mr Barber.
"Thames Valley Police has been leading the way nationally in the work to protect women, particularly in the night time economy, with operations such as Project Vigilant.
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"The unilateral dimming or switching off of street lighting may jeopardise not just the confidence that has been built up, but also the safety of women in the county.
“Of course there are other areas of potential criminality that are of concern. Overall crime has fallen across Oxfordshire, but I want that trend to continue.
"I urge the cabinet to reject the proposals and as a minimum, to carry out a proper consultation.”
In response to this letter, a spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said: "We are very grateful for the help given by Thames Valley Police in putting together our Part-Night Lighting policy, which reflects the best available evidence and wise police advice.
"In that context, the letter from the Police and Crime Commissioner is of serious concern.
"It fails completely to address any of the available evidence on Part-Night Lighting and crucially mis-states the evidence (including that from the College of Policing) on the benefits of improved street lighting.
"This is both surprising and disappointing and we are concerned it will unnecessarily increase fear of crime."
The council said the policy, if approved, is expected to save Oxfordshire County Council around £400,000 and cut carbon emissions by about 400 tonnes annually.
The authority added that numerous studies show part-night lighting reducing crime, both against property and the person, including research conducted in 2022 in the Thames Valley by UCL, which demonstrated that part-night lighting halved car crime, and that criminals actively moved into areas where the lights were left on.
"The change is something that many residents have been telling the council they want so their money can be used on other council services," said the spokesperson.
"Reducing light levels at night is good for human sleep quality and health, as well as having proven benefits for the natural world.
"For a similar reason, we already have a policy of using the lowest available colour temperature (orange/yellow as opposed to white) for streetlights, which reduces harm."
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