§ Mr. TylerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the North Cornwall constituency, the effects on North Cornwall of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [156125]
§ 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 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 North Cornwall constituency or the immediate locality:
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV)
Restormel borough council in partrmship with Devon and Cornwall Constabulary were awarded £70,000 under round 1 of the CCTV Initiative for a mobile scheme consisting of one vehicle and two cameras. This will compliment the existing town centre schemes at Newquay and St Austell allowing crime and anti-social issues to be targeted in a borough council area which is predominantly rural.
Targeted Policing Initiative
Devon and Cornwall Constabulary were awarded £950,000 under round 2 of the Targeted Policing Initiative for a project to reduce violent crime linked to alcohol abuse (Operation Amethyst). The project will provide 856W immediate support to victims of domestic violence at hospital Accident and Emergency Departments. It will tackle on and off licensed premises selling alcohol to those under the legal age limit. A media campaign will be launched to publicise the negative effects of alcohol. Youth workers will be provided to work with those people misusing alcohol. Other aims of the project include:creating an Alcohol Assessment Stabilisation Programme in conjunction with an arrest referral scheme; management of the licensing environment; creation of a Safety Advisory Group to provide guidance and advice, and provide education about alcohol.
Reducing Burglary Initiative
Devon and Cornwall Constabulary in partnership with North Cornwall District Council were awarded approximately £5,000 for a project in Launceston aimed at elderly residents. The proposed interventions include training for dealing with callers, a media campaign, life-line alarms and other security upgrades and community awareness training.
Youth Offending
North Cornwall is covered by the Cornwall Youth Offending Team (YOT). The YOT directly provides assessment and intervention work in support of: final warnings; bail support and supervision services; supervision of youth court orders and throughcare and post release supervision for young people sentenced to custody. The YOT also provides responsible officers for child safety and parenting orders. The YOT also manage the delivery of services supplied by other agencies including: drugs misuse assessment and intervention accessed through the RAPIDLY project. which is funded with the assistance of the Youth Justice Board (YJB) and the Health Action Zone; and the Hot Spot project dealing with young fire setters, which operates as a collaborative venture involving the Fire Service, Dreadnought and Social Services. The YJB are contributing approximately £197,000 to the RAPIDLY project. This project aims to reduce youth offending by rapid intervention with persons who are offending through substance misuse. The objective is to reduce young people's involvement in substance abuse, directly and indirectly related to youth offending, improve their health, education and employment. The level of intervention varies ranging from information and education, counselling and an activity based programme to medical treatment. The YJB is also contributing £125,000 to a Bail Support Scheme. This project aims to enable more young offenders to remain in the community or in non-secure accommodation prior to sentencing.
More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of North Cornwall 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; 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).