CCTV Cameras (Hansard, 9 January 2003)

§ Mr. Denis Murphy
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many criminal prosecutions have been brought as a result of evidence obtained via CCTV cameras in each of the last five years. [88152]

§ Mr. Denham
The information requested is not collected centrally.

§ Mr. Evans
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of CCTV in combating crime in small retail businesses. [88649]

§ Mr. Denham
[holding answer 7 January 2003]: Under the Crime Reduction Programme Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Initiative, a potential of £170 million will be spent funding 684 public area CCTV schemes. Many of these schemes cover shopping areas. Under the
310W
The number of Somali nationals removed between July 2001 and June 2002 was 25. Details of the destination country are not collected centrally.
"Removed" means principal applicants removed only and includes persons known to have departed `voluntarily' after the initiation of enforcement action against them, and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organization for Migration. There are no reliable removal data available prior to these dates by nationality.
We do not know how many asylum applicants have left the United Kingdom voluntarily after they have been refused asylum or exceptional leave to remain without informing the Home Office.
Information on asylum applications and decisions is published quarterly. The next publication will be available from the end of February 2003 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate web site at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigrationl. html.
Small Retailers in Deprived Areas Initiative, £15 million is being provided to improve security of small retailers, including the provision of CCTV where appropriate. In year one of the Initiative (2001–02) approximately 50 per cent. of projects involved the installation or upgrading of CCTV. This figure rose to almost 70 per cent. in year two (2002–03).
Police operational experience and various other research studies show that CCTV has considerable crime reduction and detection potential, particularly when used as part of a wider strategy.
Early findings from a number of Home Office funded schemes are very encouraging: Alhambra Shopping Centre, Barnsley: Retail property crime dropped by 35 per cent. in first two years after launch in 1999. Thornton Estate, Hull: Shop theft has been reduced by 70 per cent. since inception in 2000.