HC Deb 18 February 1988 vol 127 c702W
18. Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will visit the Nottingham, North constituency to discuss crime prevention with local electors; and if he will make a report.

Mr. John Patten

My right hon. Friend has at present no plans to do so; but I hope to visit Nottingham, when an opportunity arises, to talk to those concerned with a wide range of local crime prevention activity. This includes a commendable increase in the number of neighbourhood watch schemes, the involvement of the private sector in local crime prevention initiatives through the local chamber of commerce, and last November's knives amnesty during which some 470 knives and other weapons were handed over to the police.

36. Mr. Greg Knight

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made by his Department in developing or stimulating crime prevention measures, particularly in t he private sector.

Mr. John Patten

Good progress has been made on an increasingly wide range of crime prevention initiatives at local and national level. Home Office funding of the five local projects at Bolton, Croydon, Wellingborough, Swansea and north Tyneside has now ceased, but the projects will continue with funding from other sources. We have encouraged professional bodies and other groups and organisations to identify their crime prevention potential and to act. A great deal can be achieved through the dissemination of good practice, and bodies such as the Royal Institute of British Architects and the National House Building Corporation have arranged conferences or produced sound practical advice for architects and builders. The other way in which the private sector can help in the development and stimulation of crime prevention measures is through sponsorship. Recent examples include Rolls-Royce, which will be funding a local crime prevention project in Crewe, Barclays bank, which is meeting the salary cost of a project co-ordinator at Knowsley, and National Westminster bank, which has met the costs of providing domestic security equipment for schemes running in Avon and Birmingham.