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16 Dec 2002 : Column 637W—continued
Crime (Cleveland)
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library the crime statistics for the area covered by the Cleveland police in each of the last five years. [86399]
Mr. Denham: Numbers of crimes recorded by the police, broken down by police force, are published annually. Details for the years from 1997 to 2000–01 have been published in successive editions of XCriminal Statistics England and Wales", which are available in the Library. The figures for 2001–02 have been included in a new publication, XCrime in England and Wales 2001–02" (Home Office Statistical Bulletin 7/02), which was published in July this year, and which is also available in the Library.
Crime (Teesside)
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what Government initiatives have been put in place in Teesside to bring down crime. [86498]
Mr. Denham: A total of #3,404,361 is being provided to Teesside Crime Reduction Partnerships for crime reduction initiatives in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Redcar and Cleveland during 2002–03.
Crime reduction initiatives which are currently being taken forward are the Safer Communities Initiative (#231,204), Closed Circuit Television (#782,650), Small Retailers in Deprived Areas (#120,000), Reducing Domestic Violence (#389,385), Street Wardens Initiative
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(#712,712), Neighbourhood Wardens Initiative (#376,550), Communities Against Drugs (#611,300), Reducing Burglary Initiative (#248,300) and Partnership Development Fund (#188,560). In addition, there are two New Deal for Communities areas at Middlesbrough and Hartlepool, each spending over six million on crime reduction initiatives over the lifetime of the scheme. Cleveland Police have also received #300,000 for 2002–03 to fund 40 Community Support Officers.
Departmental Offices
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what timber has been used at the construction site of the new Home Office building at 2 Marsham Street; who supplied this timber; and what evidence the supplier gave that it came from legal and sustainable sources. [83927]
Beverley Hughes: As the former towers are still being demolished no construction works have so far been undertaken on the Home Office's new building at 2 Marsham Street. Foundation works are scheduled to start in December.
While the timing of timber purchases is not yet known the contract management arrangements will provide information to the Department about what timber has been purchased and to ensure that it is sourced from suppliers in a legal and sustainable way.
Drug-related Crime (Teesside)
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of crime in Teesside is deemed to be drug-related. [86458]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Recorded crime figures include statistics on drugs offences, such as possession, and on acquisitive crimes, such as burglary, but do not record whether the latter are related to an offender's drug habits.
However, the New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) research programme, which involves interviewing and drug testing those arrested by the police, confirms a link between drug misuse and crime, although the conclusions do not relate specifically to Teesside. Analysis of the data from the first eight sites in the survey, collected during 1999–2000, shows that 65 per cent. of arrestees provided a urine sample that tested positive for one or more illegal drug. The analysis also shows that up to 29 per cent. of arrestees tested positive for opiates (including heroin) and/or cocaine (including crack).
As a guide to the proportion of crime that is drug-related, analysis of the NEW-ADAM self-report data indicates that while only 21 per cent. of non-drug using arrestees reporting having previously offended in the past 12 months, this figure rises to 75 per cent. for those arrestees who use heroin and/or cocaine/crack. Moreover, while users of both heroin and cocaine/crack represented just under one quarter of all arrestees interviewed, they were responsible for more than three-fifths of all the illegal income reported.
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In support of this, 55 per cent. of arrestees who reported using one or more drugs in the last 12 months and committing one of more acquisitive crimes, acknowledged a link between their drug use and their offending behaviour. This proportion rose to 78 per cent. for arrestees who said they had used heroin and cocaine/crack.
Family Support Grant
Dr. Jack Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money his Department has allocated to awards for family support grant; under what headings applications are being considered; how much funding is allocated under each heading; and if he will make a statement. [87143]
Beverley Hughes: The Family Support Grant is currently worth a total of #5.8 million a year. The Home Office has allocated up to #1.265 million to make new awards under the Family Support Grant starting in 2003–04. As in previous years there are three strands.
The first strand is for national, regional or local voluntary organisations seeking to deliver innovative projects for parenting support—#440,000 has been allocated.
The second strand is for national, regional or local voluntary organisations wishing to further develop and replicate previously successfully completed Family Support Grant funded work. It must focus on either fathering and/or parenting teenagers as funded in the first or second Family Support Grant rounds (1999–2000 and 2000–2001). #440,000 has been allocated.
The third strand is for voluntary organisations for work with black and minority ethnic parents specifically to help them with their parenting skills. To be eligible the work must focus either on supporting refugee parents with their parenting and/or supporting parents who are struggling with parenting their teenagers. #385,000 has been allocated. In addition, up to #55,000 will be available to provide extra support to the newly funded organisations given that they are likely to be less experienced than those applying for the other two strands, and to enable shared learning.
Each grant is worth up to #55,000 per annum for up to three years. This is a rise from the previous annual maximum of #50,000.
The closing date for applications was 10 December. These are still being processed but there are approximately 300 applications, with the majority applying under the first and third strands. Decisions will be announced no later than mid March 2003 and if it is possible to notify applicants any earlier this will be done.
The Family Support Grant also give score funding to Parentline Plus for its helpline; to the National Family Parenting Institute and to Home Start.
The balance is for continuation funding for those organisations funded from the previous two rounds.
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Fireworks
Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the anti-social behaviour associated with fireworks around 5 November this year. [83634]
Mr. Denham [holding answer 5 December 2002]: We are concerned about the nuisance and noise associated with fireworks. We have set up a monitoring exercise involving nine Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) to focus on best practice and to identify clearly the number and scale of the problem caused. This commenced on 23 October and will run until 15 January in order to take into account 5 November, New Year and other festivals. At the end of the exercise we will analyse the findings and place the results in the Library.
Hard Case Support
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications he has received for hard case support over the last year; and how many have been successful. [86565]
Beverley Hughes: The information requested is not available.
Hornchurch
John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on the Hornchurch constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [85081]
Mr. Denham: Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in Home Office annual reports. A copy of the most recent report, Home Office Annual Report 2001–2002, is available in the Library. Information on recorded crime and policing is also published.
The impact of Home Office policies and actions is not normally examined by constituency and the statistics which the Department collects cannot be matched in the way requested although set out are examples relating to the Hornchurch constituency or the immediate locality, as follows:
- Hornchurch benefits from projects which cover the wider area of Havering. The Havering Drugs Action Team is receiving #566,000 this year from a combined Home Office and Department of Health fund to develop and extend local drug treatment services. These funds will rise to #924,000 by 2005–06. Separately the current XDon't Buy Crime" campaign is raising awareness about purchasing stolen goods. This is part of the Home Office's XSafer Communities Initiative" under which #72,565 has been allocated to Havering for 2002–03.
One recent initiative specifically affected Hornchurch: a London Regional Transport close circuit television (CCTV) scheme called the XHewkeye Project", in which CCTV cameras and associated equipment provided coverage of a station car park. The project was a joint venture involving London Regional Transport, the British Transport Police and local partnerships. Forty-six other car parks in the London region also benefited from the scheme. The package is intended to reduce incidences of motor vehicle crime and the fear of crime for car park users and passengers.
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More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of Hornchurch to a greater or lesser extent. For example:
- The level of Class A drug abuse by under 25-year-olds has stabilised and we are increasing the emphasis on treatment as a response to drug abuse generally;
The interim target of 60 per cent. of all asylum applications being decided within two months has been met;
Vehicle crime is down 8.8 per cent. from levels in 1998–09.
There have been no escapes by Category A prisoners since 1995.
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