§ 14. Mr. Simon HughesWhat proportion of his budget is allocated to (a) prevention of crime and (b) detection and punishment of crime; and what plans he has to change this allocation. [30352]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Mike O'Brien)It is impossible to identify the overall level of funding for crime prevention. Although £19.3 million is specifically allocated, the police budget, which is more than £7.2 billion, and other resources also contribute to both crime prevention and detection.
§ Mr. HughesI am sure that the Minister will accept that the more we can prevent crime, the less we will have to spend on detection and prosecution. As part of the review that the Home Secretary has quite properly instigated, will two specific matters be considered?
First, if the figures are right, about a quarter of all prisoners have themselves been victims of abuse, so if we can prevent the physical and sexual abuse of youngsters we will be more likely to prevent their offending subsequently. Secondly, if we can find useful activities—not only work—for youngsters outside school, and outside school hours, we will prevent the huge amount of crime that is carried out between about 4 pm and 10 pm by 14 to 20-year-olds, who could be better employed doing other things.
§ Mr. O'BrienAll I can say is that I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman.
§ Mr. Bill O'BrienWill my hon. Friend take note of the situation faced by the police in West Yorkshire? When he considers the police budget, will he remember that the capping system has meant that the charge for band D properties in the area has been reduced by 57p per annum? That will have an effect on the monitoring and prevention of crime. Given the extra resources that have been allocated by the Home Office to crime prevention, the funding for West Yorkshire appears to be an anomaly. Will the Minister investigate that serious situation?
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienI will investigate that important matter for my hon. Friend and write to him.
§ Mr. Ian BruceHas the Minister been able to ascertain what will be spent in real terms on new policing, or has there been a cut? Certainly, Dorset police believe that when they have paid for everything that goes up every year, such as pensions, they will have to make cuts. Local authorities are trying to help the police by, for example, putting in cameras, but they are now finding that they cannot even bid for town centre cameras, because there is no matching funding. Will the Minister consider that problem carefully?
§ Mr. O'BrienPolice expenditure has been targeted to rise by 3.7 per cent. and the figures are clear. On the subject of crime prevention, the Crime and Disorder Bill and the new crime reduction partnerships will ensure that the police are more closely involved with local councils in work on crime reduction. However, the hon. Gentleman must consider the whole budget. It would be wrong to 702 consider only the money allocated to crime prevention under a single budget head. Crime prevention has a role across billions of pounds of budgets, and the Government are committed to making crime prevention a priority across our whole budget.