§ Fiona MactaggartTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Slough constituency, the effects on Slough of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [146927]
§ Mr. StrawThe 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.
The impact of Home Office policies and actions is not normally examined by constituency and the statistics which the Department collects cannot be matched in the way requested, although set out are examples relating to Slough constituency.
Under the Crime Reduction Programme the following amounts have been awarded to Slough:
- Reducing Burglary: £119,270
- Neighbourhood Wardens Scheme: £179,983
- Closed Circuit Television (CCTV): £140,454
Schemes
Reducing Burglary Project—Stoke and Farnham Wards: £119,270.The project is part of the Crime Reduction Programme Round 2 burglary initiatives. It is based in the Stoke and Farnham wards in Slough. The area is one of the most deprived in Slough with high unemployment, poor facilities and relatively high crime rates. The wards have a young population and high proportions of minority ethnic groups (Farnham 34 per cent. and Stoke 42 per cent)
81WThe project has a lot of partnership working between the police and other agencies and is based around the following interventions.
Alarms
200 National Approval Council for Security Systems (NACOSS) approved alarms are to be installed over the lifetime of the project, the intended recipients are those who have experienced burglary. The original project had 100 alarms, but with extra Home Office funding (£39,270) and a sponsorship deal with British Gas, this has improved the quality and quantity of the alarms.Improved fencing in the area.Improved lighting in agreement with the local authority and Southern Electric. Contracting to improve the lighting in the area has been negotiated.Informant Fund
Work is progressing on developing a good quality informant.Neighbourhood Wardens Scheme: £179,983. To improve the quality of life for residents in two deprived estates. Targeted activity will reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour, racial harassment and the fear of crime. This scheme is also looking at ways to link into the Reducing Burglary project.CCTV—The Farnham Road Slough: £140,454. This covers the second largest shopping area in Slough and associated car parks.Slough is part of the Thames Valley Police bid for arrest referral. Thames Valley police were awarded £624,278 from March 2000 to March 2002 of which £188,750 is being allocated to a scheme in Slough. This award is to fund an arrest referral worker and contributing to the treatment of those referred by the scheme. Slough has one custody suite with one arrest referral worker. Thames Valley police are matching the Home Office funding. There is also a contribution from Slough Council.
Slough already had a successful arrest referral scheme in existence from November 1999. This was a partnership arrangement between SMART (Substance Misuse Arrest Referral Team), Thames Valley police and Slough Council—an arrangement that continues with Joint Funding Initiative. SMART Criminal Justice services is a registered charity specialising in working with drug related offenders at various points of the criminal justice process. It was set up in 1996 in direct response to the Government's drugs strategy—"Tackling Drugs to Build a better Britain".
More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of Slough to a greater or lesser extent. For example:
82W376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have been established including one covering the Slough Unitary Authority which has undertaken an audit of the levels of crime in Slough and developed a strategy to reduce them;155 Youth Offending Teams have been set up across the country including one in Slough. They are a key part of the Government's radical reform of the youth justice system which also includes a range of new penalties which make young offenders face up to the consequences of their offending behaviour and make reparation to the victims of their crimes;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 in January 2000 to 69,870 by the end of November 2000; and good progress is being made in reducing the incidence of fire related deaths in the home. They have dropped from 605 in 1997 to 534 in 1999.