HC Deb 21 October 1976 vol 917 cc1639-41
8. Mr. Steen

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he issues advice on measures designed to reduce vandalism; and, if so, to whom such advice is issued.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

In November 1975, the Home Office sent a report by the Standing Committee on Crime Prevention on this subject to a large number of organisations including the police, local authorities and the construction industry. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the report and a list of those to whom it was sent. We shall take an early opportunity of discussing the subject with chief officers of police.

Mr. Steen

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware of the deep concern felt by many tenants on the large council estates on the edge of my constituency, and shared by tenants in cities throughout the country, that the situation could be greatly improved if the stigma of council tenancy were removed and people could own their own houses, have control over their environments and have power over their estates, free from the tyranny of petty bureaucracy and local government officialdom?

Mr. Rees

I am all in favour of removing petty bureaucracy in local authorities, but on the wider question, vandalism—and I have put my mind to this matter—concerns me in my own constituency and does not take place only on council estates. It is pretty general. It is a matter to which we should put our minds. That is why I shall be talking about it to chief constables. A great deal is being done, but it is extraordinarily difficult to deal with the problem. The cost of it in inner city areas is staggering.

Mr. Kilroy-Silk

Does my right hon. Friend accept that one solution might be to provide work for juveniles who are unemployed? Will he consider, as a means of dealing with vandalism, an extension of something like community service orders, so that juveniles may make reparation to the community for the damage they have caused? Would this not be far more effective in dealing with them than other punitive measures, and be of far more benefit to them as individuals and to the community as a whole?

Mr. Rees

Unemployment among juveniles is bad and must be a factor in vandalism, but it is only one. I am interested in what my hon. Friend has said and if he cares to have a word with me about it, he can add to my store of knowledge. I am trying to do something about this problem and I should be interested in his views.

Mr. Costain

Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that the points system for the allocation of council houses means that parents with large families become concentrated on council estates and that there are hordes of youngsters who are bored to death? Does he agree that the vandals ought to make good some of the damage they cause and be helped to appreciate what is really good?

Mr. Rees

Vandalism takes place on council estates, but it also occurs in many other places. I have often found that there is no vandalism among larger families, where family spirit is greatest. The problem is not capable of easy explanation. It is complicated, and it costs a great deal of money which we could well spend in other ways.