§ Lady Hermon:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what funding he has made available for town centre CCTV schemes in Northern Ireland; and what assessment he has made of the contribution of CCTV to the reduction of crime in Northern Ireland's town centres. [142689]
§ Mr. Spellar:During the period 1999–2001, the Government, through the Police Authority for Northern Ireland, invested £2.3 million in CCTV systems in seventeen town centres across Northern Ireland. We hope that it will be possible to build on this original investment and plan to make a further statement shortly.
In terms of the impact of CCTV, we have received evaluations from nine of the systems installed during 1999–2001. My officials are currently considering these and will be seeking a further independent view of their overall impact on crime across Northern Ireland.
We remain of the view that CCTV, when used as part of a wider crime reduction strategy, can be an effective tool in tackling crime.