§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration was given by his Department to(a) Swansea and (b) Cardiff in regard to involving those cities in his safer cities campaign.
§ Mr. John PattenThe Home Office safer cities programme does not extend to Wales and consequently Cardiff and Swansea were not eligible for consideration. Separate arrangements for providing support for local crime prevention activity apply in Wales.
§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all the cities in the United Kingdom which were eligible under the criteria for the safer cities campaign and the figure granted to date 10 each of these cities.
§ Mr. John PattenThe following is a list of the 20 local authority areas in England selected for inclusion in the Home Office safer cities programme showing the amount of grant approved up to 17 December 1991 in support of local crime prevention activity:
246W
Area Grant approved Birmingham 916,000 Bradford 966,000 Bristol 984,000 Coventry 939,000 Derby 1nil Hartlepool 696,000 Hull 602,000 Leicester 2nil Middlesbrough 1nil Nottingham 793,000
Area Grant approved Rochdale 655,000 Salford 697,000 Sunderland 586,000 Wirral 762,000 Wolverhampton 792,000 London Boroughs Hammersmith and Fulham 3nil Islington 853,000 Lewisham 1,031,000 Tower Hamlets 539,000 Wandsworth 531,000 1 Project established October 1991. 2 Project established September 1991. 3 Project established December 1991. The safer cities programme in Scotland and the safer towns initiative in Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Scottish Office and Northern Ireland Office respectively.
§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any towns which were not formally in possession of city status were(a) considered and (b) offered involvement in the safer cities campaign.
§ Mr. John PattenThe term "safer cities" is a working title intended to denote the programme's concentration on inner-city and similar urban areas. All 57 district, metropolitan district and London borough council areas in England covered by the urban programme were considered for possible inclusion in the safer cities programme: a number of those invited to join, and in which safer cities projects have subsequently been established, do not have city status.
§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been(a) budgeted, (b) allocated and (c) paid out in respect of the safer cities campaign in the present financial year.
§ Mr. John PattenIn 1991–92 the estimate of the costs of the 20 local projects in the Home Office safer cities programme is £7.1 million. Of this £5.1 million is for grants to support local crime prevention activity all of which has been allocated to project areas. As at 9 December, £3.8 million of this grant money had been paid out or firmly committed to local crime prevention schemes.