§ Ms CoffeyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers about the targeting of police resources to areas with a high incidence of crime.
§ Mr. Charles WardleDecisions about the use of resources are the responsibility of chief officers of police. These matters do not usually arise in our discussions with the Association of Chief Police Officers.
§ Ms CoffeyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional resources he will make available in the next two financial years to provide grants to people in the high crime areas for additional household and security measures.
§ Mr. MacleanHome Office financial support for local crime prevention activity is channelled through the safer cities projects currently established in 20 high-crime areas in England. These projects provide financial and other assistance for crime prevention work which may include schemes for improving household security in accordance with locally determined priorities. The 16 longer-established projects in Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Hartlepool, Hull, Islington, Lewisham, Nottingham, Rochdale, Salford, Sunderland, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Wirral and Wolverhampton—each have a grants budget of £100,000 for the year ending 31 March 1994, by which date Home Office funding for these projects is due to come to an end. The four more recently established projects—in Derby, Hammersmith and Fulham, Leicester and Middlesborough—each have a grants budget of £250,000 for 1993–94; the size of these budgets in future years has yet to be determined.
A second phase of safer cities is to be established in areas which have not yet benefited from this initiative in accordance with the announcement made by my predecessor in reply to a question from the hon. Member for Erewash (Mrs. Knight) on 11 January, column 601, and the accompanying statement, a copy of which is in the Library. The grants budget for these new projects has yet to be determined.
In addition to this Home Office programme, Department of Environment programmes including estates action and city challenge also provide support for measures aimed at improving improved household security.
§ Ms CoffeyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase police resources in areas of rising crime.
§ Mr. Charles WardleThis Government have provided very substantial additional resources to the police service. It is for chief constables to decide how to deploy their resources to the best effect within their force area. Forces are encouraged to look closely at how effectively their resources are deployed so as to meet the demands which are made of them.