HC Deb 16 June 2003 vol 407 cc86-7W
Mr. Pickles

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what target the Government have set to reduce the number of malicious fires relating to school premises; when the target was set; and if he will make a statement. [119200]

Mr. Raynsford

The Government have a target of a 30 per cent. reduction in the number of deliberate fires, including school premises, by March 2009. The target was set following the Spending Review 2000, and the results reported in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Annual Report 2003.

Following the Spending Review 2002, fire targets are being reviewed and a revised deliberate fires target will be announced in the Government's forthcoming Fire White Paper, due shortly.

Arson is one of the major fire threats facing us today. In 2001, we established the Arson Control Forum to provide the strategic direction to the national fight against arson. The Forum is taking forward a programme of measures that will address arson in its many forms, including deliberate school fires.

To date, the Forum has invested some —2.25 million in local initiatives. These include programmes aimed at educating children about the dangers of playing with fire. We have allocated a further —13.3 million over the next three years to build on this programme of work.

Mr. Pickles

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many malicious fires relating to school premises there were in each year since 1997, in each fire brigade area across England and Wales. [119201]

Mr. Raynsford

The following table contains information on the number of malicious fires in schools attended by local authority fire brigades in England and Wales in each year between 1997 and 2001 (the latest calendar year for which data are available). Malicious fires are those where malicious or deliberate ignition was proved or suspected (this includes fires which were recorded by the brigade as "doubtful").

Malicious fires1,2in schools by brigade, England and Wales, 1997–20013
Brigade area 1997 1998 1999 2000 20013
England and Wales 927 726 874 799 892
England 865 694 821 752 855
England—non-Met counties 369 382 396 423 415
Avon 15 23 15 13 16
Bedfordshire 0 13 8 20 10
Berkshire 5 6 10 5 2
Buckinghamshire 12 3 17 12 9
Cambridgeshire 9 7 8 0 0
Cheshire 21 11 14 24 10
Cleveland 36 24 12 31 5
Cornwall 0 1 5 0 0
Cumbria 5 2 15 3 7
Derbyshire 9 25 12 4 14
Devon 20 0 13 13 21
Dorset 5 1 13 5 13
Durham 17 25 10 12 10
East Sussex 8 1 8 19 17
Essex 11 21 5 16 15
Gloucestershire 14 0 0 8 5
Hampshire 6 8 15 20 24
Hereford & Worcester 0 8 0 4 5
Hertfordshire 4 19 30 19 8
Humberside 8 37 26 9 32
Isle of Wight 0 0 0 0 0
Kent 20 6 14 6 17
Lancashire 34 34 28 45 41
Leicestershire 17 10 11 17 21
Lincolnshire 8 0 5 0 0
Norfolk 0 0 1 10 4
North Yorkshire 11 1 5 26 5
Northamptonshire 4 15 11 0 10
Northumberland 5 4 4 4 5
Nottinghamshire 18 43 9 29 15
Oxfordshire 1 2 9 5 11
Shropshire 10 10 5 4 0
Somerset 6 6 0 4 15
Staffordshire 3 13 26 11 19
Suffolk 6 0 0 0 8
Surrey 5 0 0 5 8
Warwickshire 10 0 0 4 5
West Sussex 2 0 26 8 0
Wiltshire 4 1 9 7 10
Isles of Scilly 0 0 0 0 0
England—Met Counties 496 312 424 329 440
Greater Manchester 146 103 110 55 101
Merseyside 123 48 58 56 49
South Yorkshire 21 20 13 20 43
Tyne and Wear 28 33 23 33 32
West Midlands 59 42 55 64 50
West Yorkshire 58 31 54 42 75
Greater London 60 36 112 59 90
Wales 62 32 54 47 37
North Wales 17 15 8 6 0
Mid and West Wales 12 14 14 25 0
South Wales 33 3 31 16 37
1 Including late call and heat and smoke damage incidents.
2 Figures are based on sampled data weighted to true brigade totals.
3 Provisional