§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase funding to police authorities to extend CCTV schemes. [92017]
§ Mr. DenhamUnder the Crime Reduction Programme Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Initiative over £170 million is being spent funding 684 CCTV schemes. More than 540 of these schemes are already fully operational, with further schemes coming on line weekly.
Although this strand of funding is now closed, other opportunities for funding of CCTV schemes currently exist through the funds available to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, on which the police are partners. Funding of £94 million was announced on January 21 as being available to partnerships for 2003–04. Potential funding is also available through the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas initiative.
General Police Grants will increase by 4.3 per cent. to £7.3 billion in 2003–04. These grants are used by police authorities and chief officers to support their policing programme and plans.