HC Deb 07 December 1989 vol 163 cc392-3W
53. Mr. Ian Bruce

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many neighbourhood watch schemes now exist in England and Wales.

78. Dr. Woodcock

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many neighbourhood watch schemes now exist in England and Wales.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

I refer my hon. Friends to the reply that I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Waterside (Mr. Colvin).

75. Mr. Burt

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will assess the contribution being made to crime prevention in Greater Manchester by the neighbourhood watch scheme: and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Patten

Although I am not aware of any specific research into the effects of neighbourhood watch in Greater Manchester as a whole, figures for recorded crime for the 12 months ending in June 1989 show a drop of over 5 per cent. in Greater Manchester. This decrease, coupled with a 8 per cent. decline in the number of recorded burglaries, must be encouraging to all those engaged in crime prevention work, especially members of neighbourhood watch schemes.

The Kirkholt burglary prevention project in Rochdale, which included a variant of neighbourhood watch, has resulted in a substantial drop in the level of residential burglary. A full report of the Kirkholt project is in Home Office crime prevention unit paper No. 13, a copy of which is in the Library.

76. Miss Widdecombe

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware of any local authorities whose policy it is to refuse to permit neighbourhood watch signs to be erected in highways within their jurisdiction.

Mr. John Patten

We are aware that some local authorities have refused to grant planning permission for the erection of neighbourhood watch signs and I deplore this. The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 1987 gave deemed consent for the erection of signs relating to properly approved neighbourhood watch schemes which were not to be placed on highway land. Where signs are required on highway land I hope that all highway authorities will follow the Department of Transport's lead in approving such signs unless they cause a hazard to traffic or pedestrians.