§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the total financial support from his Department to farm watch and rural watch schemes, in each of the last three years for which figures are available; [32580]
(2) what was the total number of farm watch and rural watch schemes (a) in each area and (b) in total, in England and Wales, in each of the last three years for which figures are available; what is the estimated average number of people involved in each scheme; and if he will make a statement. [32581]
§ Mr. MichaelThe Home Office has chosen to direct funding towards national initiatives designed to support and encourage the sort of activity which Watch schemes represent rather than funding local schemes. It would not be possible to fund every local scheme and, in any event, the essence of partnership is people getting together with the police to solve local problems at a local level. The Government do provide £0.75 million a year in core funding to Crime Concern, one of whose main activities is advising and developing crime prevention activities.
As both farm and rural watch schemes are run in conjunction with local police forces, the Home Office does not keep records of either the total number of schemes which are currently running throughout the country, or the estimated average number of people involved in each scheme.
The Crime and Disorder Bill will help to extend partnership activities by providing for new statutory duties for local authorities and the police to create an effective results-oriented framework for local action to tackle local problems. The nature of these problems will vary significantly from one area to another, and it is the Government's intention to allow maximum flexibility to reflect this. Rural areas, in common with urban and inner city areas, will benefit from this approach.