§ Yvette CooperTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the pilot projects instigated by his Department since 1 May 1997, indicating the area in which each pilot took, or is taking, place. [72638]
§ Mr. StrawDetails of key pilot projects instigated by the Home Office since 1 May 1997 are as follows:
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Pilot project Area Date pilot started Electronic Tagging 1. Community Service Orders and Curfew Orders on Persistent Petty Offenders, Curfew Orders on Juveniles (aged 10 to 15), Driving Disqualifications on Offenders and Fine Defaulters Norfolk Greater Manchester January 1998 April 1998 2. Electronic Monitoring as a Condition of Bail Norfolk Greater Manchester April 1998 July 1998 Integrating business and information systems (IBIS)— to enable the exchange of electronic case files and case-tracking information between the police, Crown Prosecution Service and the magistrates' courts Stockport November 1998 Police dogs—Trials of scent discrimination methods of training police dogs using bloodhounds and German Shepherds Essex police force April 1998 Fire safety—community fire safety pilot publicity campaign that concentrated on chip pan safety to test out an integrated approach to communications. TV advertising ran throughout Granada TV area Lancashire 3 April 1998 to 5 May 1998 Review of Fire Cover—Pathfinder projects with selected fire brigades to trial a new scheme for providing fire cover based on the risk London, Strathclyde (Glasgow); Lothian and the Borders; South Wales (Cardiff); Oxfordshire; Devon January 1998 Passport issuing—project to introduce a more secure digitally printed British Passport Passports issued by the Liverpool and Newport Passport Offices (North West, North and South of England and Wales) 5 October 1998 Prison Service Welfare to Work 11 prisons across the estate April 1998 Video Links South-West (Bristol and Eastwood Park prisons linked to Bristol and Swindon magistrates court) November 1998 North-West (Manchester prison and Hindley YOI linked to Manchester Magistrates court) New Security passes Bullwood Hall prison, Essex; The Mount prison, Herts; Hull prison April to June 1998 Prisoner Escort Form Brixton and Holloway prisons; London prisoner escort service and 9 London police stations May to June 1998 Extended Sex Offender Treatment Programme Albany, Wakefield, channings Wood, Swinfen Hall and Wandsworth prisons 1997 to 1998 Improved regimes for women prisoners Holloway prison, London Styal prison Cheshire December 1998 November 1998 Dyslexia screening 5 dispersal prisons: Frankland, Full Sutton, Long Lartin, Wakefield, Whitemoor January 1999 Family literacy Stoke Heath YOI; Norwich, Bullwood Hall Cookham wood Dover YOI September 1998 October 1998 February 1999 Volunteer tutoring schemes Frankland, Full Sutton and Wakefield prisons January 1999 Peer partnership (basic skills) 7 prisons across the estate August to September 1998 Birmingham January 1999 Disinfecting tablets 11 prisons across the estate July to November 1998 A number of pilot projects will also form part of the Crime Reduction Programme, beginning in April 1999. There will be about 70 projects initially, launched as part of the burglary and targeted policing initiatives within the Programme. There will be others to follow. The first projects are expected to be confirmed shortly, following validation of the bids that have been submitted to the Home Office.