§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much has been spent through the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas initiative in each year since 2001, broken down by region; [172429]
(2) what targets are in place to measure and assess projects undertaken as part of the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme; [172430]
(3) when he will publish the review of the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme. [172431]
§ Ms BlearsThe £15 million from the Capital Modernisation Fund for the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas initiative was made available as follows; 2001–02—£3 million; 2002–03—£6 million; and 2003–04—£6millon. A small amount was set aside for administration and evaluation, with the regional allocations as follows:
£ Region 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 Total Eastern 196,620 393,475 393,475 983,570 East Midlands 236,060 471,052 471,052 1,178,164 London 454,720 910,515 910,515 2,275,750 North East 248,530 496,244 496,244 1,241,018 North West 470,670 942,209 942,209 2,355,088 South East 246,500 493,580 493,580 1,233,660 South West 194,300 389,604 389,604 973,508 Wales 190,820 381,257 381,257 953,334 West Midlands 333,210 666,182 666,182 1,665,574 Yorkshire and Humber 327,410 655,882 655,882 1,639,174 All the funding, other than a small amount in the region of £250,000 due to slippage on some projects in 2003–04, has been fully disbursed. This equates to 1.7 per cent. of the total capital allocation.
Individual projects are developed by local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in conjunction with Regional Home Office Directors. Part of this process is 574W to ensure adequate local targets have been set and systems put in place to measure performance against them.
The evaluation of the scheme will pull out key best practice and learning points from eight case studies, plus four other regional sites. The evaluation will examine ways in which the scheme has impacted upon businesses, such as changes in levels of retail crime; fear of crime among businesses and their customers; business viability; partnership working; and improved security behaviour among businesses.
We hope to publish the full evaluation of the Small Retailers scheme later this year.