HC Deb 20 February 1986 vol 92 cc462-4
2. Mr. Maclean

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the outcome of the recent seminar on crime prevention.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Douglas Hurd)

The seminar agreed on a range of initiatives by industry, commerce and the Government. These cover four areas—autocrime, residential burglary, aspects of violent crime and crime in the workplace. I will chair a follow-up seminar in the summer to take stock of progress. I believe that there is huge scope for local schemes of many different kinds of crime prevention, and we are working hard to encourage these.

Mr.Maclean

I am obliged to my right hon. Friend for that reply. Is he aware that, for this vital area of Government activity to succeed, it must involve not only Home Office Ministers and boffins but the whole community? What steps is he taking to get across the message that we must involve insurance companies, motor manufacturers, builders, and so on as well as small community groups, in this vital aspect of crime prevention?

Mr. Hurd

My hon. Friend is right. That was the main purpose of the seminar. We shall push that message through. My hon. Friend will be glad to know that the magpie television advertisements, which we showed some time ago, were followed in London and the midlands where they were shown by an 11 per cent. decrease in burglaries in the following quarter. We are extending that programme to the north.

Mr. Roy Hughes

I draw the right hon. Gentleman's attention to early-day motion 468 concerning the case of Peter William Jones, who yesterday in Newport Crown court received a life sentence. Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that many people in Newport and elsewhere cannot understand why a man with such a record of violence was allowed to roam the streets and eventually to rape a seven-year-old girl? Will the right hon. Gentleman call for an early review of sentencing and appeal procedures?

Mr. Hurd

The hon. Gentleman knows that I cannot, and do not intend to, comment on sentences passed in court by the independent judiciary. I shall look into any aspects of the case which fall within my responsibility.

Mr. Sackville

In view of the clear evidence that shows that a vast proportion of crime is preventable by the public, I welcome the fact that one of the five local crime prevention projects is to be in Bolton. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the lessons learnt there will be used to the benefit of the rest of the country and that adequate resources will be provided?

Mr. Hurd

Yes, indeed. I entirely agree. I was in Bolton not long ago, as my hon. Friend knows. I found considerable interest and enthusiasm in the fact that Bolton had been chosen for that pioneering project. I hope that all involved in Bolton, whatever their party political opinions, will join in that effort for the protection of the public.

Mr. Evans

Does the Home Secretary accept that the best way to cut the appalling level of crime is to cut the appalling level of unemployment? Does he accept that one way of cutting the appalling level of unemployment is to accept the programme put forward by the Employment Select Committee, which would immediately take 750,000 people out of the dole queue?

Mr. Hurd

I do not accept that, because 95 per cent. of the crime committed is crime against property. A large percentage of that is opportunist—not prepared long in advance. Crime prevention could substantially cut those figures if it were better applied.

Mr. Stokes

As so much crime is involved with motor cars, will my right hon. Friend consider bringing in regulations to ensure that in future all British car manufacturers produce cars with burglar-proof locks?

Mr. Hurd

Yes, indeed. My hon. Friend is on to an excellent point. One of the results of the seminar at 10 Downing street was an agreement that a British standard for car security would be prepared by the British Standards Institution.

Mr. Kaufman

Will the Home Secretary arrange to have published the letter which the Prime Minister's office has sent to all the participants in the so-called crime seminar last month, from which it will be plain to anyone who reads it that the Government are taking not one firm action and are spending not one penny of new money on crime prevention? That curious event at Downing street was less a seminar than an episode from "Spitting Image". Will the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister now abandon those publicity stunts and gimmicks and do something positive and tangible to deal with the record crime wave over which they are presiding?

Mr. Hurd

I am amazed that the right hon. Gentleman should make that mistake. Does he realise how many people in Manchester and everywhere else suffer from opportunist crime which can be prevented? The general secretary of the Trade Union Congress, Mr. Norman Willis, was at the seminar. He spoke to us warmly of the way in which we should try to enlist general support for crime prevention. That was the purpose of the seminar, and it is the purpose of the letter to which the right hon. Gentleman referred.