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Crime Prevention/Weston-Super-Mare

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to offer funding to local crime prevention initiatives in Weston-Super- Mare. [54471]

Mr. Denham: Home Office crime reduction funding is allocated to the North Somerset Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership and the North Somerset Youth Offending Team, which cover Weston-Super-Mare. The total funding allocated in 2002–03 is £464,897 comprising:

Purpose	Amount £
	North Somerset Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership
Communities Against Drugs(22)	162,800
Safer Communities Initiative	56,163
Partnership Development	57,500
Small Retailers in Deprived Areas Scheme	25,906
Total	302,369
North Somerset Youth Offending Team
General funding	102,263
Drugs services	31,044
Referral orders	29,221
Total	162,528

⁽²²⁾ 2001–02 baseline allocation

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Policing Costs

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the average annual cost of employing (a) a police officer and (b) a police constable in (i) a provincial force and (ii) London in the last five years. [41614]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 8 March 2002]: I have today placed this information in the Library.

Police Performance

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will rank the performance of each police force in England according to the Best Value Performance Indicators relating to (a) violent offences under the influence of an intoxicating substance and (b) violent offences committed in connection with licensed premises. [55111]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 9 May 2002]: The suite of Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) for the police relating to violent offences under the influence of an intoxicating substance and violent offences committed in connection with licensed premises first comes into effect during the current year 2002–03.

Class A Drugs (Tunbridge Wells)

Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people (a) in total and (b) under the age of 25 years in Tunbridge Wells were found in possession of Class A drugs in each year since 1997. [55192]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, it will be possible to provide some information on the number of persons in Kent cautioned or found guilty of possessing Class A drugs from 1997 to 2000. I will write to the hon. Member by 24 May 2002. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Police Service (Religion)

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will collect statistics on the religious affiliation of civilian and uniformed staff in the Police Service with special reference to Muslim women in the work force; and if he will make a statement. [55440]

Mr. Denham: We have no current plans to collect data on the religious affiliation of police officers and support staff. Data are collected on ethnicity. This is used to monitor the progress of police forces in meeting their targets on minority ethnic recruitment, retention and progression.

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Antisocial Behaviour

Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued to date. [55857]

Mr. Denham: Official statistics on the number of AntiSocial Behaviour Orders (ASBO) issued are based on quarterly returns received from magistrates courts committees (MCCs). The total number of ASBOs issued, as from 1 April 1999 up until the end of December 2001 (latest available), is 518.

The requirement for further checks for completeness of information reported from MCCs is currently under review.

Alcohol

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the changes in his Department's guidelines to the police relating to the seizure of alcohol from young people. [54978]

Mr. Denham: There are no guidelines dealing specifically with this subject, but all chief police officers and chief executives of local authorities were informed by letter, of the measures relating to alcohol consumption in public places, contained in the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 Act prior to their commencement in September 2001.

Recorded Crime

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 7 May 2002, Ref. 52335, whether before 1 April, the police had discretion to record a reported crime; and if he will make a statement. [55584]

Mr. Denham: The rules regarding re-classification of a recorded crime were the same prior to 1 April 2002 as they are now. Re-classification is not usually permitted. The rules state that a recorded crime cannot be re-classified unless it is re-classified to a homicide (murder, manslaughter or infanticide).

Once a crime has been recorded it can only be classified as a 'no crime' if one of the following criteria is satisfied:

(i) The crime was committed outside the jurisdiction of the police force in which it was recorded.

(ii) Where, following the report of an incident which has subsequently been recorded as a crime, credible evidence comes to light, which determines that no crime has been committed.

(iii) If the crime, as alleged, constitutes part of a crime already recorded.

(iv) If the reported incident was recorded as a crime in error.

Domestic Violence

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many incidents of domestic violence there were in each year since 1997 in Wales; [56175]

(2) how many incidents of domestic violence there were in each year since 1997 in Lancashire. [56174]

Mr. Denham: Details of the numbers of domestic violence incidents in Wales and Lancashire, obtained from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Annual

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Statistical Return from police forces, are given. The definition of domestic violence incidents used for the figures up to 1998–99 was as follows:

Any form of physical, sexual or emotional abuse which takes place within the context of a close relationship. In most cases, the relationship will be between partners, married, cohabiting or otherwise; or ex-partners.

The figures for 1999–2000 and 2000–01 used the following definition:

Any violence between current or former partners in an intimate relationship, wherever and whenever the violence occurs. The violence may include physical, sexual, emotional or financial abuse.

The figures up to 1998–99 are therefore not directly comparable with those for 1999–2000 and 2000–01. Changes in numbers of domestic violence incidents recorded may be due to increased willingness on the part of victims to report these crimes, and to changes in force policy in how to handle and record such incidents. In particular, Lancashire changed their recording and reporting procedures in the 2000–01 financial year, resulting in a higher figure for that year.

Number of domestic violence incidents

Year	Wales	Lancashire
1996–97	21,068	6,216
1997–98	21,160	5,760
1998–99	17,913	6,778
1999–2000	17,159	8,560
2000–01	15,763	17,392

Burglary

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many burglaries have been committed in Wales in each year since 1997; [56177]

(2) how many burglaries have been committed in Lancashire in each year since 1997. [56176]

Mr. Denham: The numbers of burglaries (both domestic and other) recorded by the police in Wales and Lancashire since 1997 have been published in successive editions of 'Criminal Statistics England and Wales', and are given in the table.

Number of burglaries

Year	Wales	Lancashire
1997(23)	46,445	27,921
1998–99(24)	41,941	24,226
1999–2000(24)	36,764	21,360
2000–01(24)	32,883	21,673

⁽²³⁾ Calendar year

⁽²⁴⁾ Year ending March

There was a change in counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998. However, it is thought that this had relatively little effect nationally on the number of burglary offences recorded. The 2000–01 figure for Lancashire may have been affected by new recording practices introduced by the force in April 2000.

16 May 2002 : Column 844W

Common Assault

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of common assault have been committed in Lancashire in each year since 1997. [56178]

Mr. Denham: The number of common assaults, and racially aggravated common assaults, recorded by the police in Lancashire are given in the table. The former category was introduced as a recorded crime on 1 April 1998, and the latter was counted separately from 1 April 1999.

Recorded common assaults in Lancashire

Year	Common assault	Racially aggravated common assault
1998–99(25)	2,109	n/a
1999/2000(25)	2,208	63
2000/01(25)	3,052	52

⁽²⁵⁾ Year ending March

It should be noted that recorded violent crime is subject to changes in reporting and recording. The 2000–01 figure for Lancashire may have been affected by new recording practices introduced by the force in April 2000. Also, for example, the 2001 British Crime Survey found that, over England and Wales as a whole, reporting to the police of common assault rose from 29 per cent. in 1999 to 39 per cent. in the year 2000.

The British Crime Survey has shown that, in England and Wales as a whole, the number of common assaults recorded in the survey decreased by 14 per cent. between the 1999 and 2000 calendar years, whereas common assaults recorded by the police increased by an estimated 9 per cent. Common assaults recorded by the police may therefore not necessarily be a reflection of the real level of this offence.

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