§ Mrs. Angela KnightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Government's crime prevention policy.
§ Mr. JackDuring the past decade, the Home Office crime prevention unit set up by this Government has generated many initiatives leading to successful crime prevention activity. This has been undertaken by individual people and individual businesses; by community groups like crime prevention panels and neighbourhood watches; by the police, local authorities and other statutory agencies; by multi-agency partnerships; and within specific Government schemes. These include not only the Home Office's safer cities programme, but also the urban programme and city challenge. All this activity is linked by the common thread of the partnership, or602W multi-agency, approach in which a diversity of interests work together in a local community or for a common cause.
The Government intend to build on this good foundation to develop a clear strategy for crime prevention involving all sections of the community.
The four key areas of activity will be as follows:
the number of safer cities projects will be doubled, with a broader management base to bring in a wider range of interests;a new National Board for Crime Prevention will be set up, after wide consultation with business and voluntary sectors, industry, commerce and the retail world. This should generate new ideas for preventing crime and enable a wide range of expertise to be mobilised, while providing a focal point for smaller groups addressing specific problems. Car crime prevention year has shown how much can be achieved by this kind of approach; the Ministerial group on crime prevention, reconvened with new membership, will be tasked with overseeing the Government's crime prevention strategy and helping to ensure that Government Departments pursue crime prevention objectives in the implementation of their own policies.there will be support for crime prevention initiatives which do not fall within the scope of safer cities and other Government programmes. The Government will continue to fund Crime Concern to provide a consultancy service for those who wish to set up crime prevention projects, to promote neighbourhood watch, to develop youth crime prevention and other similar activities; we will produce a good practice guide for local crime prevention practitioners; we will fund a number of innovative local projects intended to reduce the likelihood of people turning to crime; and we will encourage all sections of the community to work with the police to prevent crime.I have placed in the Library of the House a statement providing further details of these new policies.