§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on the Bristol, South constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [158856]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe Home Office is working to build a safe, just and tolerant society in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families and communities are properly balanced, and the protection and security of the public are maintained. Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in Home Office Annual Reports. A copy of the most recent report, Home Office Annual Report 2000–01, is available in the Library. Information on recorded crime and policing is also published. "Recorded Crime England and Wales, 12 months to September 2000" and "Police Service Strength England and Wales, 30 September 2000" can be found in the Library. The recorded crime statistics include information on recorded crime by basic command unit and crime and disorder partnerships.
The impact of Home Office policies and actions is not normally examined by constituency and the statistics which the Department collects, such as recorded crime. cannot be matched in the way requested although set out are examples relating to the Bristol, South constituency or the immediate locality:
Reducing Burglary Initiative (RBI)
Under round 2 of the RBI, Avon and Somerset Constabulary in partnership with Bristol city council have been awarded £152,000 and £89,000 for projects in Knowle and Knowle West and Hartcliffe respectively. The main interventions proposed are target hardening; fencing of rear gardens and intervention work.
375WUnder round 3 of the initiative, Avon and Somerset Constabulary in partnership with all local authorities in the force area have been awarded approximately £650,000 for a project to test new forensic techniques.
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV)
Bristol city council has one bid for CCTV funding entitled "Safer Symes CCTV scheme" to a potential capital of £237,000 shortlisted for further consideration under round 2 of the CCTV initiative.
Youth Offending
The Bristol Youth Offending Team (YOT) during 2000–01 has worked with 2,200 young offenders and supervised 330 young people on community-based orders. The YOT has prepared more than 450 court reports and its appropriate adult volunteers have attended 350 interviews with young people at police stations. The YOT has established offender-victim mediation services and is providing intervention programmes to confront young offenders with the views of their victims. The YOT is also working to deliver the Government's pledge to halve the average time taken from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders, from 142 to 71 days. The most recent figure for Bristol is 89 days.
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is currently providing funding for one bail support and five intervention schemes through its development fund. The Prince's Trust operates an education project, FIVE, that is based in five cities in England and Wales working with young offenders and those at risk of offending, aged 14–17, through the provision of two Prince's Trust programmes. This has been awarded a YJB grant of £340,000. Fairbridge West run an education, training and employment project, Constructive Alternatives Through Life Skills for Life that works with persistent young offenders and those on final warning in trying to build personal, social and independence skills. This is receiving YJB funding of approximately £64,000. £128,000 is provided towards a project run by Include. This is an education, training and employment project called Post 16 Bridge Course, that works with 16 and 17-year-old persistent offenders who have poor educational achievements and limited employment prospects. Bristol YOT runs a parenting scheme. Bristol Parenting Support Project, that supports parents of young people who are offending so that they may help their child reduce offending. This project receives £60,000 of YJB funding. A grant of £82,000 has been awarded to the Children's Society for a prevention programme it operates called Right Track, which provides support for black children and young people aged 10–17 who are involved in the criminal justice system.
The Bristol Remand and Intensive Support Project is being implemented by Bristol YOT and NACRO (National Association for Care and Rehabilitation of Offenders). £370,000 has been awarded to the project whose main objective is to reduce the incidence of custodial remands for 10 to 17-year-olds.
More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of Bristol, South to a greater or lesser extent. For example:
376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have been established;racial harassment and racially motivated crimes have been made criminal offences by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998;376Wthe asylum backlog has been cut from 103,495 at the end of January 2000 to 49,690 by the end of February 2001; andgood progress is being made in reducing the incidence of fire deaths in England and Wales. They have dropped from 605 in 1997 to 534 in 1999.Information on the Home Office and its policies is also published on its website www.homeoffice.gov.uk.