HC Deb 19 December 2002 vol 396 cc975-7W
Geraldine Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what funding the Government have made available for community support officers in Lancashire since the initiative began; [86944]

(2) what steps he is taking to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour in Morecambe. [86945]

Mr. Denham

The Government is committed to tackling crime and anti- social behaviour. Morecambe, as part of the Lancaster Crime and Disorder Partnership, will benefit from the schemes designed to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour throughout the area. Morecambe has received £16,000 from the Safer Communities Initiative to fund an alleygating scheme in a crime hotspot to reduce access to the rears of both residential and commercial properties. The Small Retailers Scheme has provided £7,541 to provide such items as locks, grills and to improve lighting for 30 shops in the Morecambe area.

In August 2002 a street warden scheme providing 10 wardens was introduced to help tackle environmental and physical problems in the area, vehicle crime, anti-social behaviour and juvenile nuisance.

Lancashire Constabulary has made a successful bid for £946,477 to employ 72 community support officers by 31 March 2003. The posting of Community Safety Officers within Lancashire will be an operational matter for the Chief Constable to decide.

Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests have been made in Chorley in the last 12 months; and which custody suites have been used. [87055]

Mr. Denham

Information on the number of arrests for notifiable offences is collected centrally at police force area level only. Available information shows that in 2001–02 (latest available) there were 41,715 arrests for notifiable offences within the Lancashire police force area.

According to Lancashire constabulary records, 2,848 persons were arrested in the Chorley borough of South Ribble, Lancashire in the year ending July 2002. Of these 88 per cent. were lodged at Leyland custody suite and 12 per cent. were lodged at Skelmersdale custody suite.

Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps he is taking to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in Chorley; [87028]

(2) what Government funding has been made available for community support officers in Chorley; and how many officers it has provided. [87054]

Mr. Denham

The Government is taking a number of steps to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in all areas of the country. Lancashire is one of the forces involved in the street crime initiative. Other initiatives such as safer communities and the crime reduction programme have also made an important contribution.

The Police Reform Act 2002 contains a number of measures to address crime and anti-social behaviour, including changes to improve the effectiveness of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and the creation of Community Support Officers (CSOs).

Lancashire Constabulary have made a successful bid for £946,477 to employ 72 community support officers by 31 March 2003.

In relation to the number of these CSOs who may work within Chorley, the posting of CSOs within Lancashire is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.

Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reported crimes there were in the Chorley council area in the last three years, broken down by ward. [87053]

Mr. Denham

Numbers of crimes reported to the police are not collected centrally. Statistics of crimes recorded by the police in 1999–2000, 2000–01 and 2001–02 for six key offence groups have been collected for the Chorley Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP), and have been published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletins (HOSBs) 'Recorded Crime England and Wales, 12 months to March 2001' (HOSB 12/01) and 'Crime in England and Wales, 2001–02' (HOSB 07/02). The figures are given in the following table. Numbers of offences by ward are not collected centrally.

Numbers of key offences in chorley CDRP, years ending March 2000, 2001 and 2002
Offence Year end March 2000 Year end March 2001 Year end March 2002
Violence against the person 551 581 646
Sexual offences 38 47 49
Robbery 27 32 64
Burglary in a dwelling 526 492 780
Theft of a motor vehicle 464 414 413
Theft from a vehicle 700 837 872

It should be noted that the Lancashire constabulary adopted the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard in August 2000, ahead of its national implementation in April 2002. The effect of the standard will be to increase the number of crimes counted, and so the figures given in the table will not be directly comparable between years.