§ Mr. ChannonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of police expenditure is devoted to crime prevention; and what steps he is taking to increase the proportion.
Number of persons remanded on bail (Thousands) Offence Group 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 Indictible 248.1 268.0 277.2 271.0 304.6 314.7 321.8 Summary (other than motoring) 36.9 43.8 48.7 69.9 76.0 72.8 71.0 Summary motoring 28.8 33.5 38.2 51.7 61.3 65.0 65.9 Total 314.0 345.2 364.0 392.6 441.9 452.5 458.7 Information on the numbers offending while on bail is not collected centrally. A Home Office research report, "RPU report 65, Offending while on bail; a survey of recent studies", gives some information on recent studies relating to offences while on bail. The survey concludes that, on average, between 10 and 12 per cent. of defendants are subsequently convicted of an offence committed while on bail and nowhere was the figure more than 17 per cent. A copy of this report is available in the Library of the House.
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Table A Persons proceeded against at magistrates courts for all offences by type of offence and result 1986–1992 England and Wales Year/result Indictable Summary non-motoring Summary motoring All offences Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent Number Per cent 1986 Prosecutions 460,152 100 501,533 100 1,166,729 100 2,128,414 100 Found guilty 302,311 66 438,300 87 1,041,657 89 1,782,268 84 Dismissed 14,324 3 11,471 2 14,664 1 40,459 2
§ Mr. Charles WardleMany of the 128,000 police officers in England and Wales are involved in crime prevention to a greater or lesser extent but it is not possible to identify what percentage of police expenditure this represents. Nearly 1,000 of these officers are employed as crime prevention specialists. In 1992–93 the estimated expenditure on the police increased to £5.9 billion, an increase in real terms of 83 per cent. since 1978–79.
On 13 November 1992, following consultation with the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Home Office sent a circular letter to chief officers of police with the aim of consolidating and expanding crime prevention activities through each force. The circular recommends that each force should develop a crime prevention strategy and that specialist crime prevention officers should be integrated into local command management units in order to allow greater co-ordination of crime prevention and operational policing. Chief officers are encouraged to deploy beat officers for crime prevention surveys while employing the expertise of the crime prevention specialist within crime management teams.