§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Hull, North constituency, the effects on Hull, North of his Department' s policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [150618]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe Home Office is working to build a safe, just and tolerant society in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families and communities are properly balanced, and the protection and security of the public are maintained. Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in Home Office Annual Reports. A copy of the most recent report, "Home Office Annual Report 1999–2000", is available in the Library. Information on recorded crime and policing is also published. "Recorded Crime England and Wales, 12 months to September 2000" and "Police Service Strength England and Wales, 30 September 2000" can be found in the Library. The recorded crime statistics include information on recorded crime by basic command unit and crime and disorder partnerships.
The impact of Home Office policies and actions is not normally examined by constituency and the statistics which the Department collects, such as recorded crime, cannot be matched in the way requested, although set out are examples relating to the Hull, North constituency or the immediate locality:
Targeted Policing:
Humberside police, in partnership with Kingston-upon-Hull city council, was awarded £377,000 for a project aimed at reducing the level of anti-social and low-level criminal behaviour in Bransholme.
Reducing Burglary Initiative:
Three projects were awarded a total of £275,000—one scheme covering the Stoneferry and Bransholme area of Hull, was awarded £135,000 under the first round of the reducing burglary initiative. Two schemes, both covering Hull, West, were awarded a total of £139,000 under round two of the reducing burglary initiative.
Youth offending Teams (YOTs):
The Kingston-upon-Hull YOT covers the constituency of Hull, North. The YOT is working with other youth justice agencies to deliver the Government's pledge to halve the average time taken from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders, from 142 to 71 days. Locally the average time for the youth court is below the Government target of 71 days. The YOT is also preparing 100 per cent. of all pre-sentence reports on young people within the adjournment period specified by the courts for the preparation of such reports.
The YOT is utilising the ASSET assessment system in order to ensure intervention work is effectively targeted at the personal, family, social, educational and health 33W problems that contribute to the causes of a young person's offending behaviour. The YOT is achieving a 96.6 per cent. completion rate for assessment work at the pre-sentence report stage and a 100 per cent completion rate for assessment of young people referred to in through the police final warning scheme.
The YOT is also delivering intervention programmes for young people referred to it through the operation of the police final warning scheme. 96.4 per cent. of all programmes delivered as the result of a police final warning contain an element of either direct or indirect reparation to victims. The team is also working with victims as a result of the operation of the police final warning scheme and the community-based reparation order.
Kingston-upon-Hull (including the Hull, North constituency) is benefiting from the Youth Justice Board's development fund, which has awarded grants of approximately £483,000 over three years for one bail support scheme and two intervention programmes.
The Youth Justice Board also provided funding for the operation of Splash schemes during the summer holidays in 2000. These schemes provided constructive and positive leisure activities for young people most at risk of offending. A Splash scheme was run in Orchard Park.
The YOT is also working in partnership locally in order to address youth crime. For the first time it has created a single and coherent database about youth crime so it can establish a baseline for local youth crime reduction targets.
More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of Hull, North to a greater or lesser extent. For example
376 crime and disorder reduction partnerships have been established;racial harassment and racially motivated crimes have been made criminal offences by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998;the asylum backlog has been cut from 103,495 at the end of January 2000 to 66,195 by the end of December 2000;good progress is being made in reducing the incidence of fire deaths in England and Wales. They have dropped from 605 in 1997 to 534 in 1999.Information on the Home Office and its policies is also published on its website (www.homeoffice.gov.uk).