§ 8. Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham)How many applications to his Department for closed circuit television funding have been rejected in the last two years. [13346]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Beverley Hughes)Under round one of the initiative, 354 funding applications worth a potential £63 million were successful and 382 were unsuccessful. Under round two, 332 funding applications worth about £106 million were successful and 449 were unsuccessful.
§ Dr. CableIs the Minister aware of the great frustration in communities like mine because, having been encouraged to put forward well designed and badly needed applications for CCTV funding, they are being turned down by rigid financing rules that require local councils to carry the full current costs of the schemes? Will she speak to the Treasury, which I suspect is the source of the problem, about introducing more flexible arrangements to enable more councils to have that valuable initiative implemented in their areas?
§ Beverley HughesAs all hon. Members know, CCTV schemes are very popular, both with local authorities and, indeed, with local people. As I said in my answer, a total of 738 applications have been successful under a scheme that has put £170 million into CCTV initiatives as part of a crime reduction programme.
Although the hon. Gentleman's local authority of Richmond upon Thames submitted proposals under round one—unfortunately, none was successful because there were higher priorities and better bids—no proposals were received from it under round two. I understand his disappointment—but if authorities do not bid, they do not get.
§ Lawrie Quinn (Scarborough and Whitby)Does my hon. Friend agree that some CCTV systems that are successful in central areas have pushed criminality out on to estates and into outlying areas? Will she give careful consideration to the Eastfield area of Scarborough? The community there desperately wants CCTV but does not seem to be able to get hold of the right people in the local council to push that initiative forward. What is the best way of doing that on behalf of the local community? [Interruption.]
§ Beverley HughesAs one of hon. Friends says, my hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Lawrie Quinn) has done precisely that.
We have received anecdotal reports of displacement, which is an issue in some schemes but not in others. We are evaluating 17 of the current schemes to determine their effectiveness across the board. Indeed, one of the questions relates to whether crime is displaced to areas without cameras as a result of CCTV. On my hon. Friend's more general point, we are reviewing the entire crime reduction programme and I shall let him know of future initiatives.
§ Mr. David Cameron (Witney)Will the Minister join me in welcoming the CCTV system being launched in Witney on 14 December and congratulate all who have been involved in getting the project up and running? Does she agree that it will give welcome relief to many shopkeepers and newsagents who have had their windows smashed and suffered from petty crime? Will she confirm that small towns, like many in my constituency in west Oxfordshire, will continue to be encouraged to bid? 13 Finally, will she try to find ways to encourage multiple retailers, which benefit greatly from CCTV schemes, to help to fund them?
§ Beverley HughesI am very glad that the hon. Gentleman endorses the initiative and the finance that the Government have made available to provide what local people and retailers want. I am pleased that his area, albeit represented by him, has been able to benefit under that scheme. In addition to funding the CCTV initiative, the Government have introduced extra funding to help small retailers to remain in their areas, particularly where there is high crime, because their remaining is important for the local economy.