§ 33. Siobhain McDonaghTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to reduce street robbery. [38906]
§ Mr. DenhamWe are determined to reduce street robbery. Five metropolitan forces have received an additional £20 million to assist their efforts in tackling this crime. We are working with those forces, as well as714W progressing an extensive robbery research programme, to enable us to identify good practice in tackling robbery which we will ensure is disseminated to all forces.
We are working with schools, communities and local authorities to reduce the opportunities for robbery and to prevent people from drifting into a life of street crime. We have been working closely with the police and the mobile phone industry to take practical steps to tackle the mobile phone theft problem. We intend to ensure that all mobile phones can be barred as soon as their theft is reported, and we welcome the recent announcements by major network providers on progress towards this target.
The new London Youth Crime Task Force will help tackle youth crime in London. It will pursue ways of improving the effectiveness of the youth justice system across the capital. We will ensure that the police and the criminal justice system give the highest priority to dealing with street robbers. We especially welcome the Metropolitan Police's Safer Streets initiative which was announced on 4 February and their Ultra Violet (UV) id initiative to mark mobile phones with ultraviolet pens.
We have also published a Robbery Toolkit which is available to all forces and those involved in crime reduction and community safety and will help them to work as effectively as possible in tackling robbery.