HC Deb 04 December 2002 vol 395 cc879-80W
Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children aged between 10 and 16 years have benefited from(a) Positive Futures and (b) similar initiatives in the West Midlands. [84824]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth

Positive Futures is a partnership managed within the Home Office Drugs Strategy Directorate. There are currently 67 local projects operating in neighbourhoods across England and Wales, all falling within the top 20 per cent, as identified through the multiple deprivation indices. The intended outcomes of the programme arereductions in drug use among those participating in the project; an increase in regular participation in sport and physical activity by those involved; reductions in youth offending in the locality of the project

There are currently nine Positive Futures projects in the West Midlands, four began in June 2000 in Birmingham (Kings Norton), Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. A further five began in April 2002 in Birmingham (Handsworth), Coventry, Lichfield, Rugby and Solihull. The numbers of children and young people attending activities on a regular basis between June and October 2002 was approximately 880.

Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many under-17-year- olds participate in Youth Inclusion Programmes in the West Midlands. [84822]

Mr. Denham

The Youth Inclusion Programme is part of the Government's approach to reducing youth offending by working with young people to prevent them being drawn into crime in the first place. There are at present 70 Youth Inclusion Programme schemes across the country, with nine schemes running in the West Midlands. Each scheme targets the 50 young people, aged 13 to 16, living in the local area who are considered to be at the greatest risk of social exclusion, crime and antisocial behaviour. The schemes in the West Midlands are running in Coventry, Sandwell, Stoke, Walsall and Wolverhampton, with four schemes in Birmingham. Between July and September 2002, 542 young people under 17 participated in these nine schemes.