§ Lord Dholakiaasked Her Majesty's Government:
What research and evaluation studies are currently planned into the implementation of the provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. [HL225]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn)The Government will evaluate carefully the effects of the Act's provisions through the regular collection of criminal justice statistics, special data collections and regular research exercises.
The Home Office will collect and analyse the local crime audits and crime reduction strategies required under the Act. These will form the basis for planning further research and evaluation on the work of the local crime and disorder partnerships in order to identify good practice and assess the partnerships' impact.
Pilot studies concerning television links between courts and prisons, drug treatment and testing orders, the Narey measures to reduce delays and the youth justice measures are being evaluated by independent assessors and the Home Office.
The six-month studies of live television links are being independently evaluated by Joyce Plotnikoff and Richard Wolfson. The drug treatment and testing orders are being evaluated by the Home Office with a team from South Bank University. The pilots of the Narey measures are being evaluated by consultants Ernst & Young. The youth justice pilots, which began in 10 areas of the country on 30 September and will run for 18 months, are being evaluated by a team led by Sheffield University.
The Home Office, police and Crown Prosecution Service plan also to monitor the effectiveness of the provisions covering racially aggravated offences. Other provisions of the Act which are currently under consideration for research include anti-social behaviour orders, sex offender orders, home detention curfew and statutory time limit provisions.