HC Deb 30 April 2001 vol 367 cc531-3W
Mr. Linton

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effects on the Battersea constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [158761]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The 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 Battersea constituency or the immediate locality. Reducing Burglary Initiative (RBI) The Metropolitan police in partnership with the London Borough of Wandsworth have been granted £7,000 for a project covering the over 60s in Wandsworth. The main interventions proposed include target hardening for repeat victims particularly among elderly households. Approximately £19,000 has been awarded to a project in Balham. The main interventions proposed are raising awareness, a crime prevention roadshow, target hardening and a property accreditation scheme for an area with large numbers of flats and houses in multiple occupation. Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Wandsworth borough council was awarded £73,000 for a four-camera scheme to extend the current system covering two major car parks, public access points and Prince of Wales Drive in Battersea. The scheme aims to reduce overall crime by 10 per cent. in three years. Youth Offending Battersea is covered by the Wandsworth Youth Offending Team (YOT). It is currently receiving funding from the Youth Justice Board (YJB) for four Intervention Schemes and one Bail Support Scheme. The YOT consists of members of staff from five core agencies: Social Services, Police, Probation, Education and Health. During the past year the local health authority has increased its representation from a part-time psychologist to a full-time post. The YOT has an annual budget in excess of £1.5 million. Some key achievements in the last year include: staffing has provided to allow Balham Court House to open five days a week; a new database (YJB funded) has been installed to allow improved monitoring of the whole youth justice system; Persistent Young Offenders are being dealt with on average within 60 days; Restorative Justice Conferencing has been established with YJB funding, allowing the existing Family Group Meeting Service to be expanded to include young people and their families; an indirect reparation scheme is run on Saturdays in Battersea Park—young people are required to undertake basic maintenance tasks, for example sweeping leaves and cleaning Parks Police Cars. All young people in Wandsworth in receipt of a Final Warning are assessed for a programme of intervention and a Mentoring Scheme has been established, with 24 mentors already trained and over 10 matched with young people. Truancy Sweeps have been introduced using the YOT premises: 18 truants were picked up in the first sweep, some of those identified will be referred on to activities such as summer colleges. All YOT staff have participated in a full training programme including working with parents of offenders and cognitive ways of working. The YJB have contributed £65,000 towards a project aimed at young people in receipt of Final Warning, Community Sentences and those young people made subject to a Detention and Training Order. The Effective Supervision Project is particularly for persistent young offenders and includes individual programmes, group work and a cognitive behavioural offending programme. The Victim Offender Family Group Meeting Project provides a dedicated officer responsible for the recruitment and training of Victim Conferencing Co-ordinators and project development. This scheme has received a YJB grant of approximately £68,000. £99,000 has been contributed towards the Wandsworth Parenting Project. The main objective is to prevent offending by young people by the provision of appropriate and good quality parenting programmes that are credible to the courts, the parents concerned and the young offenders. Wandsworth YOT Mentoring Service will be a flexible scheme offering short-term task centred support or longer-term support helping to build a young person's self esteem. Almost £112,000 has been granted towards this scheme. The YJB are contributing approximately £157,000 towards a Bail Support Scheme, which aims to provide support and supervision for young people on remand to avoid them having to be removed from home because of their offending.

More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of Battersea 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; the asylum backlog has been cut from 103,495 at the end of January 2000 to 49,690 by the end of February 2001; and good 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.