Crime Prevention Schemes (Hansard, 19 May 1994)

§ 14. Mr. Soley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what new proposals he has to fund crime prevention schemes.

§ Mr. Charles Wardle
The Government already fund and support a significant number of programmes and projects linked to crime prevention. In line with the manifesto commitment, 10 new safer cities projects have been set up and a total of up to 40 are planned.

§ Mr. Soley
Is not it time to adopt a coherent strategy on crime prevention and its funding? The White City estate in my area, for instance, reduced the burglary rate by 61 per cent. over two years by means of co-operation between the local police and the council, which was funded by the council and the estates action programme. However, urban funding—which provides much of the money—is being phased out, and programmes such as "keep safe" will be lost. When will the Home Office put its money where its mouth is and start protecting people from crime by providing a properly funded crime prevention programme?

§ Mr. Wardle
It would have been nice if the hon. Gentleman had mentioned the Hammersmith and Fulham safer cities project, which funded 85 crime prevention schemes at a cost of £600,000. He will know that, to date, safer cities projects have incurred a cost of £21.5 million, of which £7 million has been spent by local authorities.
We have a comprehensive crime prevention strategy. My right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary talked earlier about the expenditure across Whitehall as a whole. That does not include the more than £6,000 million spent on the police, some of which goes towards crime prevention, as it is one of their primary statutory duties.

§ Mr. Patrick Thompson
This afternoon in the House, strong support has been expressed for the funding of a new crime prevention scheme—the introduction of identity cards. Will my hon. Friend bear in mind the fact that practical difficulties can be overcome, particularly as what worked perfectly well in the 1940s could also work in the 1990s?

§ Mr. Wardle
As my hon. Friend will appreciate, that is why the matter is kept under review.