§ Mrs. ShephardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of his Department's planned expenditure on closed-circuit television schemes will be targeted on rural areas; and if he will make a statement. [95780]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeUnder the first round of the Crime Reduction Programme Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) initiative, Crime Reduction Partnerships in England and Wales have been invited to prepare final proposals on 376 bids for new and extended CCTV schemes with a potential capital cost of £68 million. The main priorities for the first round of the initiative have been to tackle vehicle crime and serious crime problems in housing areas, but shortlisted schemes to the value of over £1.5 million are specifically directed at rural crime. Final decisions will be announced later in the year.
The priorities for future rounds of the initiative have not yet been set, and increasing the emphasis on rural crime is one of the options that will be considered.