§ Mr. GerrardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the
147Wconstituency, the effect on the Walthamstow constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [154176]
§ 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 1999–2000, is available in the Library. The next report will be published shortly. 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 Walthamstow constituency or the immediate locality:
Youth Offending
The area of Waltham Forest (Chingford Hall) has been involved in the Youth Justice Board Easter and Summer Splash scheme in 2000 and 2001. During school holiday periods in summer 2000, 102 Summer Splash projects were run in England and Wales in disadvantaged neighbourhoods to address offending by young people (especially 13 to 17-year-olds). Each project was awarded up to £25,000. The results have been extremely encouraging. The five areas traditionally associated with youth crime—burglary, motor crime, criminal damage, street robbery and juvenile nuisance—all showed significant reductions compared with the corresponding period in the previous year. The combined drop for these crimes was 14 per cent. and the Home Secretary recently agreed a further £2.1 million from the Home Office Crime Reduction Programme to run 150 Easter and summer school holiday Splash programmes in 2001.
Drug Action Team (DAT)
As of November 2000, Redbridge and Waltham Forest Drug Action Team split into two borough based DATs. Waltham Forest now has its own DAT that met for the first time on 2 March 2001. The DATs have local targets to meet the National Drugs Strategy. Objectives for young people include: to increase drug education and decrease drug-related incidents in Waltham Forest primary and secondary schools; develop service agreements with the local Youth Offending Team regarding drugs education for high risk young people; explore the development of drug referral programmes for first time offenders; co-ordinate and increase the access to treatment services for under-18s. Other interventions for adults include: the establishment of Arrest Referral, which aims to reduce drug-related crime by increasing numbers of arrested problem drug users attending treatment; extend the Redbridge Court Referral project to Waltham Forest;
148Wroll-out of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs). Since roll-out of DTTOs in October 2000, seven Orders have been made (six male, one female) and two of these are receiving residential treatment and five participated in a Day Programme based in Walthamstow. Information sharing protocols have been established between police, probation and housing services, and a collaborative approach against raising awareness has been undertaken between Safer Clubbing, Community Drug Awareness Project and treatment services.
More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of Walthamstow 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; 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.