HC Deb 26 February 2001 vol 363 cc467-9W
Mrs. Humble

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, including statistical information, the effect on the Blackpool, North and Fleetwood constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [150717]

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 1999–2000, 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 Blackpool, North and Fleetwood constituency or the immediate locality:

Targeted Policing One project covering Blackpool was awarded £103,000 under round 2 of the Targeted Policing Initiative, which proposes to reduce vehicle crime and anti-social behaviour within the town centre and main car parks.

Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Three projects were awarded a total of £786,000 under first round of the CCTV initiative:

  1. i. Blackpool town centre and car parks—awarded £559,000, proposed 36 cameras to cover two car parks and to increase the security of three other parking areas.
  2. ii. Community Safety on Housing Estates—awarded £107,400, will site nine cameras to target crime and disorder problems at two housing estates in Blackpool, including two mobile cameras to be placed in crime "hot spot" areas.
  3. iii. Wyre Mobile CCTV Unit—awarded £120,000, proposed two fully equipped mobile vehicle units capable of being deployed to any part of Wyre borough, targeting crime "hot spots" and areas suffering from youth crime and disorder.

Reducing Burglary Initiative Two projects, total capital of £285,000, submitted under round three of the Reducing Burglary Initiative and are currently under consideration.

Neighbourhood Wardens One project, awarded £199,000 to provide a co-ordinated, responsive and community focused approach to promoting the safety and well being of local residents, by providing trained high profile wardens to work with communities and address issues as identified by those communities.

Youth Offending Teams (YOT) The Lancashire YOT covers the constituency and different units have been established to provide a countywide service. They are all fully operational. One of these units is located within the centre of Fleetwood. The YOT is providing a very successful offender/victim mediation scheme in support of the final warning scheme and community based sentences. The take up rate of this service by victims is very high. The YOT and local police are working together with a local Youth Referral Scheme to respond to concerns about incidences of juvenile nuisance. The YOT was involved in running a Splash scheme during the summer holidays in 2000 which provided activity schemes for children most at risk of offending. The YOT is intending to run similar schemes over the Easter and summer holidays in 2001. Blackpool borough council has implemented a bail supervision scheme—Blackpool Youth Court Bail Support Scheme—to reduce the incidence of secure remands and re-offending while on bail for 10–17 year olds. The scheme has been awarded a grant from the Youth Justice Board's development fund of approximately £100,000 over three years. Barnados is operating a parenting scheme in Blackpool—Parenting Matters—to provide support to parents whose children get into trouble. The scheme is also receiving grant funding from the Youth Justice Board's development fund of approximately £143,000 over three years. The Lancashire Restorative Justice Protect which provides a victim/offender mediation service across the county, including Blackpool, is receiving grant funding through the Youth Justice Board's development fund of approximately £36,748 over three years. The work of the team is well integrated into the local Crime and Disorder Partnership regarding joint activities and common targets. In particular, the YOT has taken an active lead in The Fleetwood Action Group which is a sub-group of the Community Safety Partnership. This project has recently been involved in identifying a local youth crime hotspot, arranging meetings with local residents and young people separately, and then bringing the two groups together to agree an action plan for the area.

More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of Blackpool, North and Fleetwood 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 66,195 by the end of December 2000; 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).