§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the needs of each community or district in Wales in terms of crime prevention, and what initiatives he has taken as a consequence terms of the responsibilities of his Department.
§ Mr. Nicholas BennettPublic law and order and matters of policy relating to crime prevention are the responsibilities of the Home Office. However, the Welsh Office supports a number of social projects which contribute to crime prevention or alleviate its effects.
Under the urban programme the Welsh Office invites applications for projects to help overcome economic, environmental and social deprivation in urban Wales. Support of over £500,000 has been approved for crime prevention initiatives during the current financial year, including £270,000 for 11 new projects. The Department has also assisted with the appointments of crime prevention co-ordinators in six of the eight Welsh counties.
As part of the funding of the voluntary sector, the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders—NACRO—is receiving some £180,000 over a three-year period to establish a juvenile crime prevention unit. The unit works with local authorities and other agencies in south-east Wales to develop strategies that combat juvenile crime.
The Welsh Office has also played a role in the widely acclaimed partnership approach to crime prevention, and has been associated with the launch of several successful initiatives in the Principality. These have included: the Cynon Valley crime prevention bureau on 14 February; an auto crime Project in north Wales on 15 April; the major campaign "Secured by Design", in Caernarvon castle on 18 June; "Vehicle Watch Wales" in Croesyceiliog on 11 September; and the Dyfed crime reduction initiative at Pembroke dock on 9 December.
The Department has also supported a youth crime seminar organised by NACRO in Cardiff on 5 July.
Partnership schemes bring together various agencies such as local authorities, the police, probation and social services, the youth services, NACRO and the commercial sector in order to develop carefully targeted and co-ordinated responses to specific problems.
On 1 October the Department also took part in an open day arranged by the Home Office in Cardiff which again highlighted the attention being given to crime prevention matters in Wales.