§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the North-East Derbyshire constituency, the effect on North-East Derbyshire of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [150887]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe Home Office is working to build a safe, just and tolerant society in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families and communities are properly balanced, and the protection and security of the public are maintained. Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in Home Office Annual Reports. A copy of the most recent report, Home Office Annual Report 1999–2000, is available in the Library. Information on recorded crime and policing is also published. 'Recorded Crime England and Wales, 12 months to September 2000' and 'Police Service Strength England and Wales, 30 September 2000' can be found in the Library. The recorded crime statistics include information on recorded crime by Basic Command Unit and Crime and Disorder partnerships.
The impact of Home Office policies and actions is not normally examined by constituency and the statistics which the Department collects, such as recorded crime, cannot be matched in the way requested although the following are examples relating to the North-East Derbyshire constituency or the immediate locality:
Targeted Policing
Two projects covering Derbyshire were awarded funding totalling £485,000 under the Targeted Policing Initiative: £317,000 to concentrate on mapping of drugs markets in the region and £168,000 to focus on distraction burglary.Closed Circuit Television (CCTV)
Under the CCTV Initiative Steering Group a project in Clay Cross and Danesmoor received funding totalling £194,850. The project begun on 1 August 2000, and has extended the existing town centre system, with a view to reducing further, crime and fear of crime, in particular vehicle crime and burglary. Coverage has been increased to include main routes to residential areas, car parking, community facilities and business community areas.Reducing Burglary Initiative
Two schemes have received funding in Derby City totalling £120,000. The areas of Peartree and City West have each received £60,000 to fund development of an anti-burglary task group, which will initiate local projects using a multi-agency approach.Youth Offending Teams (YOTs)
The Derbyshire YOT is providing appropriate adult services for young people when interviewed by police and has dealt with 242 requests for their services between April and December 2000. The Derbyshire YOT is utilising the ASSET assessment system in order to ensure intervention work is effectively targeted at the personal, family, social, educational and health problems that contribute to the causes of a young person's offending behaviour. The health staff attached to the YOT are carrying out basic assessments of young offenders for substance misuse and, where appropriate, referring them on to specialist substance misuse services for young people.The police officers seconded to the Derbyshire and Derby City YOT have delivered 50 training sessions on the final warning scheme to over 1,200 police officers in order to ensure consistency of police assessment and referral to the YOTs. More 472W than 12 community reparation schemes have been established throughout Derbyshire in order to allow the YOTs to deliver victim-offender mediation services. There is a wide range of activities available to meet the needs of the young person and provide opportunities for further development through accredited training and skills.Derbyshire is benefiting from the Youth Justice Board's development fund which has awarded grants of approximately £613,000 over three years for two bail support schemes and two intervention programmes in the county.The Derbyshire YOT also received funding from the Youth Justice Board and the Home Office Crime Reduction Programme to run a Splash scheme during the Summer holidays in 2000. The scheme provided various activity schemes for young people most at risk of offending in four wards of Bolsover. This resulted in a marked reduction in nuisance calls and offending in the local area.The Derbyshire YOT is also benefiting from funding from the National Lottery to operate a community sports initiative in Clay Cross. The initiative is currently being implemented.More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of North-East Derbyshire to a greater or lesser extent. For example:
376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have been established;racial harassment and racially motivated crimes have been made criminal offences by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998;the asylum backlog has been cut from 103,495 at the end of January 2000 to 66,195 by the end of December 2000;good progress is being made in reducing the incidence of fire deaths in England and Wales. They have dropped from 605 in 1997 to 534 in 1999.Information on the Home Office and its policies is also published on its website (www.homeoffice.gov.uk).