§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the criteria that will be used to decide the location of the 20 new safer city projects announced on 7 January.
§ Mr. JackThe new safer cities project will, as before, be based on London borough, metropolitan district or district council areas.
For the first six projects, the criteria for selection include:
- high crime rates—normally a chosen area would be expected to have significantly higher crime rates than the average for England and Wales:
- the willingness of local agencies to participate in the programme;
- the area should be an urban priority area—excluding areas which have existing safer cities projects;
- the area should be targeted for other Government action.
Account will also be taken of points made by local authorities and others who have written in support of their areas becoming safer cities.
Consideration is also being given to including a candidate for Wales.
For later projects, further appraisal will be given to the selection criteria.
§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total sum of money available(a) in this financial year and (b) in a full 207W financial year to the 20 safer city projects announced on 7 January; and what is the highest and lowest level of aid given to any individual project.
§ Mr. Jack[holding answer 18 May 1993]: It is not possible to give precise figures until the tendering process for the second phase of the safer cities programme referred to in the statement which I placed in the Library of the House on 11 January, Official Report, columns 601–2, is complete.