§ 19. Mrs. Sylvia Heal (Halesowen and Rowley Regis)If he will make a statement on the level of activity of crime and disorder partnerships. [99694]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Mike O'Brien)The crime and disorder reduction partnerships brought into being by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 published their strategies on 1 April 1999 and are currently implementing them. We recently published a crime reduction strategy, which includes measures to support and develop partnerships' effectiveness.
§ Mrs. HealWill my hon. Friend join me in welcoming the establishment of many partnerships around the country? That shows the Government's commitment to getting all parts of our communities working together to tackle crime and disorder. Will he congratulate Sandwell metropolitan borough council in my constituency, where two anti-burglary initiatives have produced a significant reduction in domestic burglary rates in recent months? I hope that he and his colleagues will look favourably on a bid by the Halesowen Highfields estate for CCTV, so that it, too, may benefit from a reduction in crime.
§ Mr. O'BrienI join my hon. Friend in welcoming the work that is being done in Sandwell. I also agree with her that the work of crime and disorder reduction partnerships is enormously important. It will be one of the most significant contributions that there has been to tackling the problems of crime and disorder in this country. On the CCTV application, she will already have heard in earlier questions that we are putting a considerable amount of funding into that, and all applications will be considered.