§ Mr. LepperTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to provide funding to local retail crime prevention initiatives in(a) town and (b) secondary shopping centres. [53500]
§ Mr. DenhamMy right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced on 27 June last year the provision of ££15 million over three years from the capital modernisation fund to assist small retailers in deprived areas to improve the security of their businesses. £3 million was available in 2001–02 financial year, with a further £6 million in both 2002–03 and 2003–04.
This money. which is being spent on schemes identified by regional crime reduction directors, in conjunction with Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, will be used to help small retailers to improve security. This will be achieved by employing a variety of interventions, 606W including enhancing the security of individual premises and improving the environment of shopping centres. Nearly 3,000 shops in 114 retail schemes in some of the most deprived areas in England and Wales benefited from first year funds. More shops will be assisted in the next two years.
The Home Office has also supported work undertaken to establish retail crime partnerships by funding a consultant post for the past two years. The consultant has worked closely with the British Retail Consortium to produce a definitive guide on how to establish and run a retail crime partnership and encouraged retailers and other stakeholders in main shopping centre areas to establish partnerships to tackle retail and related crime.
Funding totalling £223,000 was also given to aid retail crime reduction initiatives under various programmes administered by regional crime reduction directors in the financial year ending 31 March 2002 and a further £86,500 of funding is expected to be disbursed via regional crime reduction directors specifically for retail crime reduction initiatives in the current financial year.
Other funding under the Crime Reduction Programme, such as the £170 million for schemes for the installation of closed circuit television, particularly in town centres will help to reduce shop theft as well as other types of crime in the locations where it is installed. Other initiatives such as the street wardens schemes will also be of benefit to retailers in the areas where they operate.
§ Brian CotterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what estimate he has made of the annual cost of retail crime to(a) business, (b) local authorities and (c) the police in each of the past three years; [54469]
(2) what estimate he has made of the total cost of (a) retail crime and (b) street crime in each of the last three years. [54467]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Home Office does not collect information about the cost of retail crime. The British Retail Consortium conducts an annual retail crime survey and the most recent one, published in June 2001, estimated the total retail crime losses in the United Kingdom at £1,481 million in 2000, compared to £1,461 million in 1999. The same survey also indicated that retailers spent £626 million on crime prevention measures in 2000 compared with £554 million in 1999.
The survey of crime affecting retailers and manufacturers announced by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 23 April 2002, the results of which should be available next spring, will also provide up to date information about crimes against retailers.
The best estimates for the total cost of robberies (as a proxy for street crime) for the years 1999–2000 and 2000–2001 are shown in the table and are based on information extrapolated from the British Crime Survey.
£ million 1999–2000 2,600 2000–01 2,200 Information is not yet available for 2001–02.