After last week's tragic fire at Shirley Towers some normality is returning for most of the residents but of course not for those few whose homes wont be fit to return to for some time.

It will be a long time too before any sense of normality comes back for the families of the deceased firefighters and their colleagues.

Tributes continue as does the investigation into the cause of the fire and how the firefighters lost their lives.

crime and the election

Within a month we'll know which party is in government.

All the parties are saying plenty about policing.

In Thursday's leadership debate on TV all three candidates talked in emotive terms about crime and people's concerns about it.

Of course crime is a crucial issue for us all but is it as bad as it is sometimes portrayed?

Well of course if you have been a victim of crime then statistics are of little comfort but it must be good news for me to be able to say that over the last 12 months crime in Southampton has reduced more than in any other part of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight; 14% down so 4,600 fewer victims than the year before.

That's great police work and good work from partner agencies in the City and from communities themselves.

Okay, so that's recorded crime but we know that what we record matches more and more closely what people say they have suffered when they are asked by independent surveys.

Whichever party wins and whatever new policies might emerge, (elected local police chiefs, for example?) if we keep improving our police performance in the way we have last year then we will be in a strong position to respond, whatever is asked of us.

But I don't take that success for granted.

I know it's based on hard work and commitment by my officers and staff and by many other people, often in the face of hardship; but hopefully, rarely hardships as serious as last week's dramatic events.