Violent Offences (Hansard, 3 February 2000)

§ Mr. Charles Clarke

Under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, 375 local partnerships have been established in every area across the country to develop local crime reduction strategies to address local demands. Over time these will provide a measure of crime more relevant to people's everyday experience. The Crime Reduction Strategy, launched by the Government last November, sets out how we are working with partnerships and the steps we are taking to reduce crime. The Government have a range of measures and initiatives to deal with violent crime in particular. They include the followingWe have asked police and local authorities to set targets from April 2000 to reduce violent crime under the regime of Best Value performance indicators; Tougher sentences are now in place including automatic life sentences for those convicted for the second time of serious violent or sexual offences (legislation passed under the last Government); New sex offender orders to protect children and the public (introduced December 1998) and new powers for the court to order extended supervision of sex offenders for up to ten years following their release from prison; New resources to tackle domestic violence including £6 million from the crime reduction programme; New targeted policing projects to test out the best way of tackling racial violence (four London boroughs) and alcohol related assaults (Cardiff); A ban on private ownership of all handguns was introduced within months of the general election; 709W The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 includes new measures to help vulnerable witnesses such as rape victims (eg banning their cross-examination by a defendant). One of the reasons for the increase in sexual offences is the greater likelihood that victims will report the offence because of improved handling by the police; In the new Crime Bill we are looking to expand the use of electronic monitoring of dangerous and violent offenders; We are consulting on measures to deal with dangerous people with severe personality disorder including an indefinite sentence to ensure the public are protected from those who pose the greatest risk; We are also investing £226 million in offending behaviour programmes in prison including sex offender treatment programmes to reduce the likelihood of reoffending on release; and Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) contributes to a safer environment which can reduce levels of violence and disorder. Part of the Government's £400 million evidence based Crime Reduction Programme includes £150 million for CCTV schemes. 180 schemes were announced on Monday 17 January.