§ 20. Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to reduce the number of robberies committed in England and Wales. [156040]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeWe are determined to reduce the number of robberies. That is why we have given the five metropolitan forces an additional £20 million specifically to assist their efforts in tackling robbery, and have set them the challenging target of a 14 per cent. reduction of robbery in our principal cities by March 2005. The additional funds have enabled those forces to introduce a number of new initiatives and to reinforce good practice.
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has also launched a separate initiative with the police and the mobile phone industry to crack down on robbery of mobile phones. We have also published a Robbery Toolkit which is available to all forces and those involved in crime reduction and community safety and will help them to work as effectively as possible in tackling robbery.