§ Mr. MarlandTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Gloucestershire's neighbourhood watch programme, with particular regard to its involvement with the Manpower Services Commission and the community programme.
§ Mr. John PattenI understand that there are now 228 neighbourhood watch schemes in the county of Gloucestershire. In an effort to sustain these schemes and to initiate new ones, the Gloucestershire community programme home watch project was launched on 25 January with the appointment of the project co-ordinator. The project is funded as part of the Manpower Services Commission community programme crime prevention initiative. It is managed on behalf of Gloucestershire police by Gloucestershire county council and, when recruiting is completed, will comprise the co-ordinator, an assistant co-ordinator and 11 workers. They will help to arrange the first meetings of new schemes, provide speakers for neighbourhood watch meetings and produce a quarterly news journal. I welcome, and commend, this imaginative scheme. Like similar schemes in other parts of the country, it will provide valuable support to the police in managing the growth of neighbourhood watch.