§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many performance targets have been set by his Department, agencies and non departmental public bodies since May 1997 on(a) prisons policy, (b) police policy, (c) fire and emergency planning policy, (d) probation policy, (e) immigration, asylum and nationality policy, (f) constitutional policy, (g) reducing crime, (h) the prevention of terrorism and the reduction of organised and international crime, (i) sentencing, (j) youth justice policy, (k) crime prevention policy, (l) policy relating to victims and witnesses and (m) community and voluntary sector policy; how many of those targets have been (i) amended, (ii) revoked and (iii) achieved since May 1997; and if he will make a statement. [109881]
§ Mr. StrawFollowing the Comprehensive Spending Review, key performance targets were published in the White Paper "Modernisation, Reform, Accountability" in January 1999. Those to be delivered by the Home Office and the services for which it is responsible were detailed within the Home Office, Public Service Agreement (PSA) as well as the Public Service Agreements for the Criminal Justice System and Action against Illegal Drugs. These targets, together with other key targets and milestones for the Home Office, were brought together within the 1999–2000 Business Plan for the Home Office, a copy of which I have placed in the Library.
These targets and milestones are based on outcomes required rather than functional inputs. The Business Plan, therefore, groups them according to the published Aims of the Home Office. These are as follows:
Aim 1: Reduction in crime, particularly youth crime, and in the fear of crime; and the maintenance of public safety and good order—38 targets or milestones.Aim 2: Delivery of justice through effective and efficient investigation, prosecution, trial and sentencing, and through support for victims—42 targets or milestones.Aim 3: Prevention of terrorism, reduction in other organised and international crime, and protection against threats to national security—22 targets or milestones.Aim 4: Effective execution of the sentences of the courts so as to reduce re-offending and protect the public—30 targets or milestones.Aim 5: Helping to build, under a modernised constitution, a fair and prosperous society, in which every one has a stake, and in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families and communities are properly balanced—33 targets or milestones.320WAim 6: Regulation of entry to and settlement in the United Kingdom in the interests of social stability and economic growth, and facilitation of travel by United Kingdom citizens—32 targets or milestones.Aim 7: Reduction in the incidence of fire and related death, injury and damage, and ensuring the safety of the public through civil protection—23 targets or milestones.In addition, 64 targets or milestones were separately identified within the Business Plan for the support directorates of the Home Office.
Performance against each of the Business Plan targets will be reported in the Home Office Annual Report which will be published in April 2000.