| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Departmental Expenditure (Leeds)
Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the programmes funded directly by his Department, relating to social exclusion, regeneration, community development, employment or education, currently operating in (a) the City of Leeds and (b) the Leeds Central parliamentary constituency, listing for each programme the amount of such funding for each of the last three years and the amount planned to be spent in each of the next three financial years. [92913]
Mr. Boateng: The projects shown in the table have been separately funded by the Home Office in the last three years or are to be funded within the next three years. Future funding decisions remain to be announced.
In addition, the new Home Office Family Support Grants programme was set up to fund family and parenting support across the country. Grants awarded this year will not go to any projects operating in Leeds alone, but £2,611,813 has been allocated this year to national charities for projects supporting parents and families across the country. This includes, for example, Parentline, a national helpline for parents, and funding for Fathers
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 261
Direct, a new national charity, which will map the support available for fathers in every town or region. Some of this funding for national organisations will, therefore, directly benefit Leeds.
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 262
Since April 1994, four Home Office spending programmes have been included in the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB), some funding of which has gone and is going to projects in Leeds.
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 261
| Area | Project | Award £ | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projects funded by the Home Office Crime Reduction Unit | ||||
| Leeds City--Burley/Hyde Park/ Kirkstall | Crime Reduction Programme--Reducing Burglary Initiative Target hardening approach aimed at multi-occupancy/shared housing and crime prevention publicity campaign | 60,000 (1999) | 1999-2000 | |
| Leeds City--Belle Isle/Biddleton | Crime Reduction Programme--Reducing Burglary Initiative Environmental changes aimed at reducing offending opportunities, including fencing of back gardens, improved street lighting etc. | 60,000 | 1999-2000 | |
| Chapeltown and Harehills | CCTV Challenge Competition Round 2 | 192,000 | 1996-97 | |
| Leeds Waterfront | CCTV Challenge Competition Round 3 | 99,000 | 1997-98 | |
| Projects funded by Home Office Race Equality Unit | ||||
| Leeds West Indian Carnival | European Year Against Racism One off grant payment for Projects to tackle racist attitudes and racial harassment | 6,845 | 1997-98 | |
| Leeds Racial Harassment Project | European Year Against Racism One off grant payment for Projects to tackle racist attitudes and racial harassment | 6,000 | 1997-98 | |
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 261
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 261
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 261
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug seizures occurred in each of the last three years per region; and what was the estimated value of the drugs. [92888]
Mr. Boateng:
Regional data relating to drug seizure numbers and value are not available because relevant information from the Regional Crime Squads, Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and British Transport Police cannot be disaggregated into regions. These three authorities contributed nearly three-quarters of total seizures by weight, and therefore value in the United Kingdom in 1997.
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many neighbourhood patrol or warden schemes are currently in operation in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement. [92886]
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 262
Mr. Boateng:
No central record is kept of the number of neighbourhood warden-type schemes that are operating in England and Wales.
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports were made by action teams led by his Department on the issue of neighbourhood wardens before April. [93048]
Mr. Boateng:
The draft report of the Policy Action Team on Neighbourhood Wardens, which was chaired by a senior civil servant from the Home Office, was submitted to the Social Exclusion Unit in April. The report is to be consulted upon and then will be published in due course.
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the report of the Policy Action Team relating to neighbourhood wardens; and if he will make a statement. [93383]
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 263
Mr. Boateng:
The draft report of the Policy Action team on Neighbourhood Wardens, which was chaired by a senior civil servant from the Home Office, was submitted to the Social Exclusion Unit in April. The report is to be consulted upon and then will be published in due course.
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on his policy in relation to the use of the private security industry for policing functions including police patrol; [93046]
(3) which (a) ministerial committees and (b) working groups are assessing policy in relation to the private security industry and policing functions including police patrol; and if he will make a statement. [93047]
Mr. Boateng:
I have no plans for police patrol or any other police functions to be carried out by the private security industry, except that we have proposed that the escorting of certain abnormal loads should, in future, be carried out by the private sector. Representatives of the police and other bodies have raised many matters in discussions, but neither I nor my Ministerial colleagues have proposed any changes to responsibility for police patrolling. No Ministerial committees or Working Groups are currently examining any such proposals.
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for the last year for which figures are
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 264
available, what was the average age of people who committed a (a) violent offence, (b) property offence and (c) sex offence; and if he will make a statement. [92890]
Mr. Boateng:
Information as to the age of offenders is available only for those cautioned or convicted. The average age cannot be calculated exactly from data on the Home Office Cautions and Court Proceedings databases, but the median age in 1997 for violent offence was 23 years, for property offences it was 22 years; and for sex offences it was 33 years. The table shows the number of persons cautioned or convicted from which the median age has been derived.
(2) what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with (a) chief police officers and their representatives, (b) Police Federation Representatives and (c) representatives of private security companies, since May 1997 concerning the future of police patrolling; and if he will make a statement; [92887]
| Age | Violent offence (20) | Property offence (21) | Sex offence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 135 | 1,355 | 16 |
| 11 | 350 | 2,962 | 19 |
| 12 | 841 | 5,611 | 66 |
| 13 | 1,654 | 9,158 | 142 |
| 14 | 3,067 | 13,258 | 248 |
| 15 | 4,243 | 15,747 | 241 |
| 16 | 4,653 | 16,772 | 243 |
| 17 | 4,636 | 18,022 | 206 |
| 18 | 4,071 | 17,171 | 182 |
| 19 | 3,390 | 13,998 | 142 |
| 20 | 2,842 | 12,407 | 104 |
| 21 | 2,591 | 11,479 | 101 |
| 22 | 2,472 | 10,736 | 120 |
| 23 | 2,208 | 10,027 | 113 |
| 24 | 2,274 | 9,548 | 137 |
| 25 and under 30(22) | 10,058 | 40,294 | 670 |
| 30 and under 35 | 7,892 | 27,538 | 764 |
| 35 and under 40 | 5,144 | 16,231 | 636 |
| 40 and under 50 | 5,148 | 16,538 | 1,009 |
| 50 and under 60 | 2,124 | 7,414 | 703 |
| 60 and over | 1,099 | 3,513 | 579 |
| All ages | 70,892 | 279,779 | 6,441 |
(20) Violence against the person, sex and robbery offences
(21) Burglary, theft, handling stolen goods, fraud, forgery and criminal damage offences
(22) Includes persons, cautioned or convicted of an indictable offence, given the default age of 25 where the exact age was not known
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 263
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |