§ 8. Mr. Thurnhamasked the Secretary of state for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of the crime prevention pilot projects sponsored by his Department and based in Wellingborough, Croydon, Bolton, Swansea and North Tyneside.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggI am pleased to report that all the five projects that my right hon. Friend announced in October of last year are making good progress in combating crime.
§ Mr. ThurnhamWill my hon. Friend congratulate all those who are helping to make a success of those schemes locally, including the Bolton Evening News, with its "Crackdown on Crime" campaign? Will he extend those schemes nationally? Will he invite Opposition Members to end their foolish criticism of such a positive Government initiative?
§ Mr. HoggMy hon. Friend is right. I shall certainly pass on his kind comments. We especially welcome his support for the extremely valuable work that was done in Bolton. I am sorry that his Labour opponents were not so helpful.
§ Mr. Chris SmithIs the Minister aware of some excellent crime prevention pilot projects being undertaken by some Labour-controlled local authorities, such as that in Brighton? Will he ensure that representations are made to the Secretary of State for the Environment so that the expenditure on such schemes is not caught under rate capping or under penalty for grant expenditure purposes?
§ Mr. HoggI welcome the hon. Gentleman's support for the crime prevention campaigns introduced by the Government. However, many Labour local authorities are undertaking measures that are profoundly unhelpful.
§ Mr. WheelerMy hon. Friend is generous in welcoming the support from Labour Members for crime prevention, but what does he think of the London Labour boroughs that fund from ratepayer's money a campaign, through the London Labour document "Policing London", against the police in London and against crime prevention initiatives?
§ Mr. HoggMy hon. Friend has a most distinguished record in crime prevention, to which I pay tribute. The action of the Labour authorities to which he referred is positively unhelpful and damages law enforcement by the police. [Interruption.]
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Before I call the hon. Member for Hammersmith, (Mr. Soley), may I ask hon. Members to listen to Question Time?
§ Mr. SoleyWhy did the Government wait until they were pressed by the Labour party to do something about crime prevention? It is clear from the Minister's replies that he does not even know that the five schemes are situational and neighbourhood crime prevention schemes. Because the Minister does not know that, he is incapable of answering the question of my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith). When will the Minister have a word with the Secretary of State for the Environment to ensure that funds are made available to enable the neighbourhood schemes to be well funded, because at the moment the Government, not any local authority, have been cutting back on crime prevention and victim support, and they know it?
§ Mr. HoggI am prepared to accept that the hon. Gentleman represents the relatively respectable face of the Labour party, but he must face the unhappy fact that many of his colleagues, both locally and nationally, are profoundly damaging proper law enforcement. As for the crime prevention programme, it is the child of this Government.