§ Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what policies his Department has initiated to help the police combat crime in the north-west of England since 1992. [16151]
§ Mr. MacleanOur policies to combat crime, which benefit the north-west of England equally with the rest of the country, are to prevent offences from being committed in the first place, to help the police catch criminals, to ensure that, when caught, suspects are tried fairly and speedily, and to give the courts the powers they need to punish the guilty. This approach has involved major new 749W legislation: substantial changes in the criminal justice system, including the creation of new offences and the revision of penalties; the development of new measures on crime prevention; and the targeting of persistent offenders.
In the north-west, we have increased funding for the police—by £32.29 million in 1996–97 compared with 1995–96; we have provided nearly £2 million under the last two closed circuit television challenge competitions to assist with the installation of 36 schemes; and the single regeneration budget has provided nearly £14.5 million to successful round 1 bids in the area of crime and community safety.
Through partnership initiatives to combat crime and the steadfast work of the police, we have seen recorded crime fall in the north-west by more than 13 per cent. during the past three years for which figures are available.