§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about current initiatives to reduce crime.
12W
§ Mr. John PattenPolice manpower has increased substantially, and we shall add a further 1,100 officers in 1989–90. Under the safer cities programme, nine areas were agreed last year with seven more to be announced this year; two project teams are now in post and recruitment is well advanced in the other areas. The second phase of the Government's crime prevention publicity campaign was launched in November, and over two million copies of the new crime prevention handbook—"Practical Ways to Crack Crime"—have been distributed. At the local level, there are now 64,000 neighbourhood watch schemes in England and Wales and it is estimated that some three and a quarter million households are now covered by neighbourhood watch schemes.