The Ask for Angela scheme which aims to keep people safe on nights out has ‘lost its way’ a Buckinghamshire councillor has said.
Cllr Frank Mahon, who represents Grendon Underwood, said the landlords of two recently-opened pubs in his area appeared not be aware of the scheme, which was introduced in England in 2016 as a way to try and help reduce violence against women, girls, and other potentially vulnerable groups.
He said: “I asked them, ‘Do you know who Angela is?’ and they thought I was talking double Dutch. They didn’t have a clue.”
Speaking during the communities and localism select committee, the councillor, who is a pub landlord, said he had also asked about the scheme on his radio show.
Among the handful of responses he got from pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants, he said one person who had worked in hospitality for 12 years told him they had not heard of ‘Ask for Angela’.
Cllr Mahon added that he had seen the scheme be used effectively on one occasion when staff in his pub ‘rescued’ a woman who was experiencing domestic abuse by discretely helping her into the cellar, out of a side door and into a taxi.
He said: “I believe Angela helped her get out of that situation because it broke the ice, and she spoke to a stranger about what was going on.”
He urged the council to support the scheme further, adding: “It has lost its way completely.”
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