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Police Manpower
25. Mr. David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will conduct a review of police strength in each police authority area in England and Wales prior to the Government's second comprehensive spending review; and if he will make a statement. [126144]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I have no plans to undertake such a review. Under the Police Act 1996, it is for individual chief constables to determine the number of police officers in their force from within their available resources.
I work closely with the police and their representative bodies on a number of issues about resourcing and crime reduction, including their concerns about police numbers. I have responded to those concerns with the Crime Fighting Fund, which will allow for the recruitment of 5,000 more officers over the next two years, over and above those that forces already planned to recruit. The future resourcing of the police service is, of course, a matter for Spending Review 2000, and I have taken careful account of the views of the police service on their needs.
Restorative Justice
26. Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress of restorative justice schemes. [126145]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The final warning scheme, reparation order and action plan order under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, were implemented across England and Wales on 1 June 2000; the referral order under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 will be piloted in seven areas from summer 2000 ahead of national implementation. All these measures reflect the restorative justice principles of responsibility, reparation and reintegration in tackling offending and requiring offenders to make amends for their actions. For adults, community service orders provide the opportunity for offenders to undertake work for the benefit of the community.
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Jury Trial
27. Mr. Mates: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans to amend the right to elect trial by jury. [126146]
29. Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans to change the right of defendants to elect a jury trial; and if he will make a statement. [126148]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Criminal Justice (Mode of Trial) (No.2) Bill is part of our programme to modernise the justice system and to make it more responsive to the needs of victims, witnesses and the public at large. Giving the courts, rather than defendants, the power to decide whether either-way offences should be heard in the Crown Court would reduce delay and secure a more efficient system of justice.
Corpus Juris
31. Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is with respect to corpus juris. [126150]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Ludlow (Mr. Gill), on 15 May 2000, Official Report, column 51W.
Door Supervisors
32. Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans for regulating door supervisors. [126151]
Mr. Charles Clarke: We issued a White Paper last year proposing that a new authority should be set up to license those who work in the private security field, and to improve standards in the industry. We proposed that the scheme should apply to door supervisors. Legislation will be introduced as soon as Parliamentary time permits.
As my hon. Friend is aware, we are also considering other issues relating to the regulation of door supervisors, in consultation with local authority, police and other interests.
Burglary
33. Mr. Corbett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made in reducing the incidence of burglary. [126152]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The reported crime figures for 1999 show a fall in the total numbers of burglaries of over 15 per cent. in the last two years (down from 1,127,000 in the year ending March 1997 to 953,000 in the year ending March 1999). While econometric models predict upward pressure on the level of burglary, we are committed to reducing crime and all police authorities have set five year targets for reducing the number of domestic burglaries. Nationally, these amount to a 25 per cent. reduction by March 2005.
Under the Reducing Burglary Initiative (part of our £400 million Crime Reduction Programme), we plan to invest over £50 million by 2002 in projects covering over two million households in high crime areas, with the aim of preventing 15,000 burglaries by March 2002 and 25,000 in the longer term. The projects are being
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evaluated and the lessons learned about what works, and is most cost-effective, in different circumstances will be of wider benefit to all local crime and disorder partnerships seeking to improve their own anti-burglary strategies.
So far, 224 local anti-burglary projects, covering around 800,000 households, have been approved at a total cost of nearly £16 million.
As part of the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions' New Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES), we have also committed up to £12 million to improve home security for low income pensioners living in high crime areas in England and Wales. New HEES started earlier this month.
In April 2000, we launched a Distraction Burglary Taskforce to combat the problem of burglary by bogus callers which predominantly affects very vulnerable members of the community. Pilot schemes across the country, spearheaded by the National Neighbourhood Watch Association, will try out different community based methods of tackling this crime
We have also launched a Property Crime Reduction Action Team to take forward work at a national level to reduce property crime, including ways of designing out crime. And we have also set ambitious targets for tackling drugs misuse, which is strongly connected to property crime, and have launched a number of related initiatives, including new Drug Treatment and Testing Orders and arrest referral schemes.
Finally, we are also funding several related projects under the Targeted Policing Initiative, including schemes to disrupt the stolen goods markets and to tackle drug related crime.
Victim Support
36. Mr. McWalter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money central Government have made available for victim support in the last five financial years. [126155]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The annual grant paid to Victim Support in the last five years is as follows:
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| Financial year | Grant |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 10.817 |
| 1996-97 | 11.682 |
| 1997-98 | 12.682 |
| 1998-99 | 12.682 |
| 1999-2000 | 17.500 |
Anti-social Behaviour Orders
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders have been issued; and if he will make a statement. [126153]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Figures for the number of orders granted are being collected centrally with effect from 1 June. From a trawl of police forces carried out by the Association of Chief Police Officers, we have been able to establish that 79 orders were granted between the period 1 April 1999 and 31 May 2000.
Police Recruitment
Mr. Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with chief constables regarding police recruitment. [126154]
Mr. Straw: My officials have had discussions recently with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities regarding the accelerated recruitment scheme of the Crime Fighting Fund and the national police recruitment campaign.
Cycles
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fixed penalties have been issued to cyclists for the offence of (a) carrying another person and (b) cycling on pavements, broken down by police force areas for the latest six month period for which figures are available; and how many of the penalties were issued to cyclists aged under 14 years. [126419]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The table gives the available information which relates to the period 1 August to 31 December 1999.
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(10) Figures not yet available
(11) October to December only
(12) Included in column 2
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