HC Deb 28 March 2001 vol 365 cc702-4W
Sandra Gidley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Romsey constituency, the effects on Romsey of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [155856]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The 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 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 n the way requested although set out are examples relating to the Romsey constituency or the immediate locality:

Youth Offending

Romsey is part of the area covered by the South West Hampshire Youth Offending Team (YOT), which is one of seven teams that make up the Wessex YOT. Due to the rural nature of Romsey and the distance from the YOT office, work with young people who live in Romsey usually occurs in the home. Romsey is not a high crime area in terms of youth offending. Over the past year five young people have been worked with for offences of arson/criminal damage, theft/handling and a road traffic offence.

The South West Hampshire YOT is a multi-agency team comprising staff from the probation service, social services, health authority, an education officer and a parent support co-ordinator. All young people who come to the attention of the YOT are assessed using the ASSET assessment tool and work is allocated on the basis of criminogenic need. This enables the team to identify specific needs for young people and concentrate on the particular area of concern for the individual, for example education. There are two specialist drug workers within the South West Hampshire YOT, which has been made possible due to close partnership working with the Drugs Advisory Service. An accredited Cognitive Behavioural Programme is run at the YOT office, and transport can be arranged for the young person to attend if required.

In addition, a Motor Offending Programme is being run, which is specific to the South West Hampshire YOT. This has been achieved through links with the Crime and Disorder Partnership and identifying car crime as an area that needs targeting. One of the YOT officers has developed a 16 session programme which young offenders involved in car crime are required to attend.

The YOT aims to give victims a consistently good service and places victim issues at the top of their working agenda. The team aims to make all young offenders responsible for the consequences of their actions and reparation takes place wherever possible. The YOT has formed a cohesive multi-agency approach which is making progress on tackling youth offending.

More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of Romsey 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 03,495 at the end of January 2000 to 66,195 by the end of December 2000; and 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.

Percentage
Ethnicity White Mixed Asian or Asian British Black or Black British Chinese or Other ethnic group Not known
London boroughs
Barking and Dagenham 76.00 0.00 0.00 20.00 0.00 4.00
Barnet 90.91 9.09 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Bexley 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Brent 63.64 0.00 9.09 27.27 0.00 0.00
Bromley 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Camden 52.38 4.76 0.00 38.10 4.76 0.00
Croydon 60.00 0.00 5.00 30.00 5.00 0.00
Ealing 65.52 0.00 0.00 34.48 0.00 0.00
Enfield 75.00 5.00 0.00 15.00 5.00 0.00
Greenwich and Eltham 65.0 0.00 0.00 35.00 0.00 0.00
Hackney 42.86 0.00 0.00 51.79 0.00 5.36
Hammersmith and Fulham 70.37 7.41 0.00 22.22 0.00 0.00
Haringey 60.00 0.00 0.00 40.00 0.00 0.00
Harrow 62.50 0.00 12.50 18.75 0.00 6.25
Havering 85.71 0.00 0.00 14.29 0.00 0.00
Hillingdon 70.59 0.00 17.65 5.88 0.00 5.88
Hounslow 80.00 0.00 6.67 13.33 0.00 0.00
Islington 73.33 0.00 0.00 26.67 0.00 0.00
Kensington and Chelsea 50.00 0.00 0.00 50.00 0.00 0.00
Kingston upon Thames 68.42 0.00 0.00 10.53 0.00 21.05
Lambeth 41.67 0.00 0.00 58.33 0.00 0.00
Lewisham 53.49 13.95 0.00 18.18 0.00 0.00
Merton 66.67 0.00 0.00 33.33 0.00 0.00
Newham 52.94 0.00 11.76 35.29 0.00 0.00
Redbridge 66.67 0.00 16.67 16.67 0.00 0.00
Richmond upon Thames 66.67 0.00 0.00 33.33 0.00 0.00
Southwark 66.67 0.00 0.00 33.33 0.00 0.00
Sutton 80.00 0.00 0.00 20.00 0.00 0.00
Tower Hamlets and City of London 67.74 0.00 6.45 25.81 0.00 0.00
Waltham Forest 64.86 0.00 0.00 27.03 0.00 8.11

Information on the Home Office and its policies is also published on its website www.homeoffice.gov.uk.