Previous SectionIndexHome Page


Mr. Maclean: I have a section in my speech relating to victims and I shall deal with those issues then. Suffice it to say at this stage that we and the Lord Chancellor's Department have a raft of measures to help victims. They include generous funding for Victim Support and a revision of the victims charter. I hope that some hon. Members saw the pack we published recently with rather specialist victims' organisations which work with those who, unfortunately, are relatives of people who have been murdered. We have issued a rather special pack to deal with them.

Mr. Alun Michael (Cardiff, South and Penarth): Why then did the Home Secretary and the Minister vote against our proposals to ensure that the Crown Prosecution Service had to take into account the impact on victims of crimes when deciding how to deal with matters before the court?

Mr. Maclean: We voted against the proposals for most adequate reasons; they were plain daft.

Operation Christmas Cracker follows the successful operation carried out in May this year against burglars. In this operation, more than 5,000 officers from 22 forces across the south of England and Wales searched 1,828 addresses and made 1,324 arrests. The operation was instigated by the Metropolitan police as part of their Operation Bumblebee initiative.

Operation Bumblebee was started in the No. 1 area of the Met in June 1991. In the first phase, more than 5,000 people were arrested and 8,000 offences of burglary were solved. The initiative went force-wide in June 1991 and there have been seven London-wide operations before Operation Christmas Cracker. Around 4,401 premises were searched and 3,276 people were arrested.

Operation Bumblebee has used an unprecedented mix of operational activities, using techniques that had previously been employed only to investigate very serious crime. A key plank of the strategy and all the other operations around the country, including Scorpion, Bear, Claw and Spider, is targeting the criminals rather than the crime.

The latest statistics on recorded crime show that those initiatives are helping to reduce crime levels nationwide. In the 12 months to June 1995, burglary has fallen by 5 per cent. and vehicle crime by 9 per cent. compared with the previous 12 months. Police officers believe, as I do, that it is by targeting and imprisoning persistent

8 Dec 1995 : Column 607

offenders that we can significantly reduce crime. Such operations have already led to thousands of successful prosecutions. The criminals are now aware that they are not going to be allowed to get away with their malign activities.

As Mrs. Pauline Clare, the new chief constable of Lancashire, stated:


And so say all of us--or at least, all of us on the Government side of the House.

That said, we have no illusions about the level of crime. There is, as I have said, far too much of it, and we shall continue to back the police in their crusade against the criminal.

Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary plays a significant part in ensuring that good practice is adopted by forces in tackling crime. In 1993 the Audit Commission published a report, "Helping with Enquiries--Tackling Crime Effectively", which encapsulated the principles of crime management advocated by inspectors. It effectively drew together existing good practice and provided a firm basis on which to reassess priorities within criminal investigation departments.

Following that report, in early 1994, the inspectorate, working in association with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Audit Commission, helped to produce a management guide to assist forces. The guide advocated an integrated approach to tackling crime and recommended a more proactive approach to crime management, improved prioritisation of the investigative process, better use of intelligence, improved targeting of suspects and greater emphasis on the prevention of crime.

During the course of the year inspectors have looked carefully at how forces responded. They found that the management guide had enhanced the awareness of forces. Most had instituted some form of crime desk system, which enabled them to target resources more effectively, and had developed crime strategies which incorporated many of the principles in the guide.

The spread of good practice lies at the heart of the promotion of value for money, and is a key responsibility for the inspectorate. In October this year the inspectorate published a report, "Obtaining Value for Money in the Police Service", which followed a major review of efficiency gains made by forces and an assessment of those planned for the future.

The Government's commitment to maintaining law and order and tackling crime was amply demonstrated to the House, to the police service and to the whole country again last week by yet another excellent funding settlement for the police service. Nationally, £6.6 billion will be available for policing in England and Wales next year. That is a generous increase of about 4 per cent., or £240 million, over the figure for 1995-96.

The Prime Minister's pledge to provide sufficient funding for 5,000 extra police officers means an additional £180 million over the next three years, and £20 million is being provided initially next year, which will allow chief officers to recruit 1,000 extra police officers.

8 Dec 1995 : Column 608

We have worked hard to improve the police funding formula. It has been investigated by independent consultants, who concluded that it was technically sound but that further work was needed on a number of aspects. Police service and police authority representatives have helped us with that. As a result, although some work is still continuing, we have been able to make the following principal changes for next year's formula: a reduction in the establishment element from 50 per cent. to 40 per cent., and an increase in the formula's pensions element from 9 per cent. to 12.3 per cent.

On top of those improvements to the formula we have proposed two additional rules for the allocation of police grant. The first rule ensures that all forces--except the Metropolitan police, where other considerations apply-- can receive at least 3 per cent. more funding next year. The second rule ensures that all forces will receive a fair share of the additional 5,000 bobbies over the next three years.

The additional rules that we have invented safeguard stability in police funding allocations and make possible real spending increases in every police force. Those results in turn will make decisions on police budgets easier, and allow chief officers to respond to public demand for more high-visibility policing.

The success of the police service in getting crime down deserves our full support. The additional funding for next year demonstrates that every police force in the country is getting full support from the Government, and will continue to do so.

Mr. Michael: Will the Minister tell us what change has been made in capital funding for next year, and whether the total has gone up or down?

Mr. Maclean: We publish the full figures for police funding, including capital funding. Of course there are some changes in capital funding, because we are introducing the private finance initiative. We are encouraging all police forces to grasp that initiative so as to spend considerably more in capital--on new police stations and divisional sub-headquarters, for example-- and to share with the private sector the wonderful opportunities for development. Of course, until forces have prepared their private finance initiative plans we are maintaining the major build element of police capital funding.

Mr. Michael: Will the Minister give way?

Mr. Maclean: No, I have made my point and I want to move on. The hon. Gentleman can make his own speech, in his usual way.

We introduced those rules to safeguard police funding. And from what I hear at this early stage, I understand that the police service is pleased with its settlement. Police forces understand that this year's settlement of 4 per cent. builds on the 3.8 per cent. increase last year, and they know that the Government are looking after the police service.

Bobbies with long service and long memories can remember 1977, 1978 and 1979, when the police service was sabotaged by the Labour Government, who left office leaving it 8,000 bobbies under strength. The first thing that Lord Whitelaw had to do in 1979 was to recruit 8,000 bobbies, just to bring police numbers back up to what they

8 Dec 1995 : Column 609

should have been. Most officers with long service will take with a pinch of salt some of the Opposition's current protestations that they would look after the police service.

The way in which we have looked after the police service is part of our comprehensive strategy to turn the tables on the criminal, and that strategy is now beginning to bite. It includes changes in the law such as reducing cautions, restricting bail, and limiting the so-called right of silence. Those developments, too, are important in tackling crime.

Action against street robbery is one of the priorities that the Home Secretary approved for the Metropolitan police policing plan. I wholeheartedly supported Sir Paul Condon's Operation Eagle Eye, as did the Metropolitan police committee. Like Sir Paul, I hope that everyone in the community will put their wits together to address the problem. There is no excuse for street crime. All citizens, black or white, have a responsibility to condemn the muggers for what they are, and to ask what the police can do to make our streets safe.

I do not doubt that most people want to see uniformed police officers out on the street. That is why that was made one of the key objectives for the police last year. I know from my discussions with serving police officers and with members of the public how much the public are reassured by the presence of uniformed officers in the local community. As Chief Superintendent Brian Mackenzie, president of the Police Superintendents Association, said recently,


Of course, he is right.

Regional crime squads also play a crucial role in the fight against serious and organised crime. In the past year they have been involved in operations leading to more than 4,000 arrests, the seizure of drugs with a street value of £176 million, and the recovery of £58 million-worth of stolen property, and of counterfeit currency with a face value of another £36 million.

Many of the squads' operations are international, working jointly with law enforcement agencies abroad. One recent operation, which provides a good example of European co-operation, involved regional crime squad officers working with the assistance of the German police. The operation led to the arrest of two Turkish nationals in Germany and another two in London, all four of whom were involved in the importation of £1 million-worth of heroin.

The Government are committed to tackling organised crime, and we have introduced a comprehensive package of measures to tackle it head on. The first stage of the package is the forthcoming Bill to allow the Security Service to provide support to the law enforcement agencies in the fight against organised crime. The increasing complexity and sophistication of organised crime is a cause for serious concern, and we must ensure that the full range of capabilities is available to the law enforcement agencies in order to combat that menace.

The skills and experience of the Security Service in acquiring and analysing intelligence will be of great value to the law enforcement agencies. At present, the law does not permit it to provide assistance. That makes no sense.

8 Dec 1995 : Column 610

Accordingly, our Bill will amend the Security Services Act 1989 to allow the Security Service to act in support of the law enforcement agencies against serious crime.

As we have said repeatedly, the Security Service will be supporting the police service, and the police service will remain in the lead. Linked to this measure, we also intend to establish a new national tier of police response to combat organised crime. This will build on the achievements of the regional crime squads. We will not be setting up a "British FBI", as has been suggested by some, but we will ensure that there is a more focused and better co-ordinated response to what is a national problem. Local police forces will remain the primary focus for policing in the UK. We will also strengthen the key intelligence and co-ordinating role of the national criminal intelligence service.

The police are at the forefront of developments in information technology. It is important that they remain so in the ever-more sophisticated fight against crime which will be needed as we approach the next century. The Government are determined to ensure that the right services, strategies and structures are in place to achieve this.

Use of the police national computer continues to grow and around 50 million transactions will be handled this year. Since the introduction of Phoenix in May, the police have been able to retrieve and enter records of arrests and convictions directly. On 1 November, new facilities were added to allow for the first time the recording of cautions on a national basis. When the very complex task of transferring existing records is complete, Phoenix will provide a database of immense value to the police and eventually to the rest of the criminal justice system.

Further enhancements to Phoenix are planned. The most important of these will be a system called QUEST, an investigative facility for searching the collection for all known offenders who meet a particular description. Phoenix will also be linked to NAFIS--the national automated fingerprint identification system--which will incorporate the national fingerprint collection of more than 5 million records.

The system will be rolled out to the national identification service and eight pilot forces in the middle of 1997. All existing fingerprint-matching systems in England and Wales will be replaced by 2001. Common data and system services will be co-located with the police national computer. As William Taylor, the Commissioner of the City of London police, said recently about NAFIS,


The police national network, provided by Mercury, already forms the backbone for both data and telephone communications. It will also be used by NAFIS and is designed to meet the needs of the wider criminal justice community. The PNN is an excellent example of a public and private sector partnership delivering real benefits to all users.

The police use many local systems in addition to these centrally provided services. We must ensure that the investment of some £150 million a year in local systems is used to the best possible effect. In terms of new technology, there is no longer a clear boundary between local and centrally provided systems.

8 Dec 1995 : Column 611

To maximise benefits, we now need to think about links between systems as well as planning the systems themselves. That is why the Home Secretary launched the first-ever strategy for police information systems. The strategy is fully supported by chief constables and police authorities and, one year on from the launch, lead forces are already developing cost-effective standard systems which will communicate with each other and centrally provided systems whenever necessary.

Changes to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 gave the police greater powers to take non-intimate samples from people suspected of being involved in recorded offences. The police can now take DNA samples, the profiles from which can be entered on the national DNA database and compared with profiles from traces left at scenes of crime. The national DNA database, which became operational only in April this year, is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. It is revolutionary. It relies on leading-edge technology and the most up-to-date DNA techniques.

More than 19,000 samples have already been entered on the database. For anyone whose DNA profile is held on the database, the risks involved in crime are very high. To date, 118 profile matches have already been achieved. The DNA database is an important tool for the police. The number of samples being submitted by them and the number of profile matches achieved speak well for the continued success of the database. As some of those cases come to court in the next few months, the House will see what an effective tool it is and will understand why I am not able to talk about those successes in detail at this stage.

Another area of technology to which I have already referred is closed circuit television. There cannot be many people who have not noticed the spread of these watchful guardians in recent times. High streets, shopping centres, industrial estates, schools, villages, community centres and other areas have all benefited from the presence of the cameras. The police have embraced the new technology enthusiastically, sometimes running their own systems, but more often working in partnership with others such as local authorities or town centre management committees.

CCTV is overwhelmingly popular with the operators, the police and the general public. It undoubtedly helps to prevent crime, helps the police to detect crime and assists with the investigation of crime. It gives the police extra incontrovertible evidence to help prosecute and convict more criminals, and it reduces the fear of crime among the general public.

CCTV has other, less serious social benefits. Everywhere I go, the police have shown me how they have found lost children, spotted fires in the early hours of the morning and got the fire brigade to them and identified people who have been taken ill on the street.

The results speak for themselves. There are examples of crime reductions from all over the country. I will just give the House a few examples of those. The Newcastle city centre scheme has been running for four years. There have been 800 arrests, and in only six cases did the criminals plead not guilty. It did not do them any good-- they were still convicted. In Swansea, up to August 1994, there were 147 instances of taking from a motor vehicle. Since the cameras were installed in December 1994, there have been just 10. That is a dramatic cut.

8 Dec 1995 : Column 612

In Northampton, there has been a 57 per cent. reduction in crime since CCTV was installed. In Berwick-upon-Tweed--which has a small-scale, four-camera system--burglary is down by 69 per cent., criminal damage by 41 per cent. and theft by 24 per cent. I use that example, but I should have used one for Montgomery instead, as the hon. and learned Member for Montgomery (Mr. Carlile) is in the Chamber.

In Bedford city centre a CCTV scheme became operational in April 1994. It has led to over 200 arrests, to a reduction of 55 per cent. in overall recorded crime in the city centre compared with 1993 and to a reduction of 75 per cent. in recorded thefts of motor vehicles. I could go on, but I will not. We are seeing the same thing happening all around the country. Everywhere that CCTV has been installed, we get the same reports.

John Stevens, chief constable of Northumbria, said recently:


We in the Government are doing our bit to help the process. Last year we initiated a CCTV challenge competition. It was a tremendous success and the 106 winners in the competition will share the £5 million Government funding available. If all the schemes go ahead on the scale planned, the competition is expected to lever in £13.8 million in contributions from other sources including the private sector. In other words, a total of £18.8 million will be invested in CCTV this financial year.

We have now announced another competition. This time we are not offering £5 million, but £15 million of taxpayers' money and we hope we can fund at least a further 300 schemes. A key condition of the funding is that there will have to be a code of practice on the proper use of video tapes. We shall also insist that any scheme currently up and running that wants top-up funding should have a proper code of practice as well. I, and I am sure many both inside and outside this Chamber, totally condemn the irresponsible use of any CCTV images for commercial gain.


Next Section

IndexHome Page