§ 13. Ms Christine Russell (City of Chester)If he will make a statement on his Department's role in neighbourhood renewal. [85577]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Paul Boateng)Officials in my Department are working with colleagues across Whitehall on a range of initiatives to promote neighbourhood renewal. Those include the Government's response to the social exclusion unit's report on neighbourhood renewal, the single regeneration budget and the new deal for communities, all of which are playing an important part in ensuring that neighbourhood renewal and combating social exclusion go hand in hand.
§ Ms RussellI thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Will he join me in congratulating Cheshire constabulary, Cheshire county council and Chester city council on working tremendously hard to put together a community safety partnership, which I had the honour of launching a couple of weeks ago? Will he comment on community safety partnerships in general, which, like all the other initiatives he mentioned, will play a part if we are to repair the social fabric of all our communities? We must recognise the vital role that community partnerships can play, because we need not only to repair the social fabric and the bricks and mortar of our communities after 16 years of neglect, but to tackle crime and the fear of crime.
§ Mr. BoatengI am obliged to my hon. Friend. I have had the opportunity to visit Chester, and I heard a presentation and saw for myself the excellent work that is being done by the voluntary sector, particularly in relation to drugs and reducing drug use among young people. The local business sector, the police and the local authority are getting together to make a clear and real contribution 15 to reducing drug abuse in Chester. That is good news for the young people concerned and good news in terms of the effect of drug abuse on crime generally.
§ Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham)After reflecting on measures to assist the renewal of neighbourhoods, does the Minister agree that, far from being a harmless if self-indulgent activity, the spread of graffiti at bus stops, on the walls of public buildings and in other places is corrosive of the forward-looking spirit and the sense of self-respect that are essential to the regeneration of neighbourhoods? Will he therefore confirm that the Government take a dim view of such behaviour and will introduce tougher measures to root out that unattractive phenomenon in our society?
§ Mr. BoatengI agree wholeheartedly with the hon. Gentleman. Such graffiti often represent a form of visual violence that is totally unacceptable. Care and concern for the built environment is central to neighbourhood renewal, and I am glad that so many local authorities across the country are recognising that by establishing 24-hour schemes to deal with graffiti. We need more people to take that approach, and we are determined to encourage and support it through our crime and disorder partnerships.