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30 Jun 2004 : Column 304W—continued
Asian Gangs
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the new unit established by the Metropolitan Police to deal with gang crime in the Asian community. [180017]
Ms Blears: The Metropolitan police plans to set up a specialist unit to target the growing problem of serious crime within the South Asian community in London. The new police unit will be modelled on Operation Trident—the team that has had considerable success in tackling black-on-black gun crime in the capital.
The Metropolitan police have considerable experience of working in partnership with the community and I welcome this development which will build on that approach.
Asylum/Immigration
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the latest average time is for an asylum application to be processed. [180008]
Mr. Browne: The latest published statistics show that the speed of processing asylum applications continues to improve. 80 per cent. of substantive applications (excluding withdrawals and 3rd country cases 1 ) received in the period April to December 2003 had initial decisions reached and served within two months, compared with 74 per cent. of applications in 2002–03, and 61 per cent. of applications in 2001–02. This exceeded the Government's targets of 65 per cent. for 2002–03 and 60 per cent. for 2001–02, and we are on track to exceed the target of 75 per cent. for 2003–04.
Information on the timeliness of initial decisions for new substantive applications is published quarterly on the Home Office website at: http://www.homeoffice. gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
1 Cases which may be the responsibility of other EU member states under the Dublin Convention.
Correspondence
Mr. Keith Bradley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 20th February, from the right hon. Member for
30 Jun 2004 : Column 305W
Manchester, Withington, on behalf of his constituent Leah Johanna de Quattro and the Unicom Grocery Workers Cooperative. [180701]
Mr. Browne [holding answer 28 June 2004]: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to my right hon. Friend on 28 June.
Crime Reduction
Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will request interim statements from projects funded under the Crime Reduction Programme concerned with the effectiveness of support measures for victims of domestic violence in time for the findings of these projects to be considered during the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill (a) committee and (b) report and third reading stages. [179711]
Ms Blears: The findings from the first round projects in the Crime Reduction Violence Against Women Initiatives are due to be published in the autumn as an overview research report. A series of concise practitioner focused guides which aim to highlight good practice are also planned to be published during the second half of 2004. The first of these guides called 'Safety and Justice: sharing personal information in the context of domestic violence—an overview' was published on 28 April 2004. Unfortunately it is not possible to publish findings to an earlier timetable.
Crime Statistics
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the crime levels were for each category of crime in (a) May 1993 and (b) May 1997. [180027]
Ms Blears: The British Crime Survey (BCS) is a Home Office face-to-face interview survey with a large representative sample of men and women aged 16 or over living in private households in England and Wales. Each respondent provides information on their experiences of crime in the 12 months prior to their interview. For the offences that it covers, the BCS gives a more complete estimate of crime in England and Wales than police-recorded crime since it covers both unreported and unrecorded crime.
The following table shows results from the 1994 BCS (covering crime in 1993) and the 1998 BCS (covering crime in 1997) for the categories of burglary, all vehicle thefts, all BCS violence and all BCS crime. Further crime categories can be found in Table 3.01 of HOSB 07/03 and Table A2.1 of HOSB 18/01.
| 1993 | 1997 | |
|---|---|---|
| Burglary | 1,772 | 1,621 |
| All vehicle thefts | 4,338 | 3,511 |
| All BCS violence | 3,601 | 3,675 |
| All BCS crime | 18,485 | 16,711 |
1. All BCS violence includes common assault, wounding, robbery and snatch theft.
2. Figures may differ from those previously published due to revisions in population and number of household estimates.
Source:
1994 and 1998 BCS.
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Crime/Policing (Lancashire)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many CCTVs operate in Chorley; and if he will make a statement on their effect in the fight against crime in Chorley. [180412]
Ms Blears: There are currently 34 CCTV cameras operating within the Chorley borough council area which mainly focus on the town centre and car parks. There are a further nine cameras due to be operational by the end of June 2004. The borough also has one mobile CCTV vehicle, which is deployed to problem areas as and when needed.
Chorley has an effective Community Safety Partnership, with committed partners, which has achieved significant successes. They currently have the lowest burglary rate for 10 years and vehicle crime has dropped by 12 per cent. over the last year.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Lancashire's Neighbourhood Watch and its future. [180420]
Ms Blears: The Lancashire Neighbourhood Watch Association (LNWA) is an excellent organisation which deserves much credit for its co-ordination of Neighbourhood Watch schemes in the county and its good working relationship with Lancashire Constabulary.
LNWA's plans for the future include increasing Neighbourhood Watch representation at district level. They are also creating a website due to be launched later in the year, which will improve communication between community beat managers and Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators.
I am very appreciative of the successful partnership working and active citizenship that is demonstrated by the members of LNWA.
The Home Office will shortly be consulting with the LNWA, among other local and regional Neighbourhood Watch representatives, about the future development of Neighbourhood Watch generally.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Neighbourhood Watch in Chorley; and how many Neighbourhood Watch schemes there are in Chorley. [180421]
Ms Blears: Lancashire Constabulary have on record 280 Watch schemes, run by 209 registered co-ordinators which cover 9,554 properties in Chorley.
The range of community safety schemes in Chorley is impressive. It includes a Good Citizenship Football tournament for young people, Help the Aged 24-hour response system and the Tatton Community Project. This demonstrates that Chorley and District Neighbourhood Watch Association (CADNWA) is at the forefront of taking forward innovative ways to reduce crime and promote active citizenship.
I particularly commend CADNWA's partnership with the British Transport Police in setting up Watch schemes for railway stations in the area. These are the first of their kind in the country and provide a model that could be successfully replicated elsewhere.
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Neighbourhood Watch
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with the Lancashire Neighbourhood Watch Association about the future of the Association. [179350]
Ms Blears: I responded on 15 June 2004 to my hon. Friend's letter of 19 May on behalf of the chairman of the Lancashire Neighbourhood Watch Association (LNWA).
In terms of the future, the Home Office intends to consult with the LNWA, as well as other local and regional representatives of the Neighbourhood Watch movement, in the coming months about the potential development of Neighbourhood Watch.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the (a) National Neighbourhood Watch Association and (b) (i) county and (ii) local associations are to continue to be permitted to use the Neighbourhood Watch logo. [179351]
Ms Blears: The Neighbourhood Watch logo is Crown Copyright. It has always been Home Office policy that the logo ought to be widely available to be used for legitimate purposes which are in the interest of community safety.
We have treated any request to use that logo, whether from the National Neighbourhood Watch Association (NNWA) or from other Neighbourhood Watch organisations, with this policy in mind. Unfortunately, the situation has been complicated by the fact that the NNWA has registered the various Neighbourhood Watch logos as its own trade marks.
The Home Office is seeking to regain ownership and control of the Neighbourhood Watch logo so that all legitimate organisations can continue to use it as before.
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