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11 Nov 2004 : Column 889W—continued
British Crime Survey
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the differences are in the data collected for the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime. [196700]
Ms Blears: The British Crime Survey (BCS) and police recorded crime statistics are complementary series that together provide a better picture of crime than could be obtained from either series alone. Together they ensure that we have available the most comprehensive picture of crime in England and Wales.
Police statistics provide a good measure of trends in well-reported crimes, are an important indicator of police workload, and can be used for local crime pattern analysis.
For the crime types it covers, the BCS can provide a better reflection of the true extent of crime because it includes crimes that are not reported to the police. The BCS count also gives a better indication of trends in crime over time because it is unaffected by changes in levels of reporting to the police, and in police recording practices.
The British Crime Survey (BCS) includes all crimes experienced by adults aged 16 and over living in private households in England and Wales, with the following exceptions:
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By definition, the BCS does not include commercial victimisation nor crimes against under 16's.
Police recorded crime counts all those offences that are reported to the police and recorded by them in accordance with the Home Office Counting Rules for Recorded Crime and the National Crime Recording Standard. All reports of incidents result in the registration of an incident report by the police. Following that registration, an incident will be recorded as a crime, if, on the balance of probability, the circumstances as reported amount to a crime defined by law and there is no credible evidence to the contrary.
British Transport Police
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community safety officers (a) are operating and (b) are expected to operate under the auspices of the British Transport police; what their role will be; what funding has been applied for their function; for what purposes; when he expects a decision to be made on the application; and if he will make a statement. [196486]
Mr. McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
The British Transport police (BTP) are accountable through the BTP Authority to the Secretary of State for Transport. The force is funded by the rail industry and the authority approves its budget. There are currently no community support officers (CSOs) operating under the auspices of the BTP. The authority has approved the recruitment of 151 CSOs and a recruitment process is under way. The role of the CSOs will be to provide a high visibility presence at stations, on trains and on London underground. They will reassure the public and staff; help prevent, deter and disrupt terrorism, crime and disorder; and support BTP officers and allow them to be released to deal with more serious issues when appropriate.
Centrex Action Plan
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the response to Centrex's Action Plan will be published. [194904]
Ms Blears: We are currently considering the Centrex (Central Police Training and Development Authority) Action Plan, produced in response to the recent Her Majesty's Inspection of Constabulary (HMIC) inspection, and are liaising with Centrex and HMIC regarding it. We have no plans to publish a formal response to the Action Plan.
Community Support Officers
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the integration of community support officers into a long-term policing strategy. [195475]
Ms Blears:
The primary role of Community Support Officers (CSOs) is to provide a high visibility and reassuring presence in the communities where they patrol.
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CSOs will be a key component of neighbourhood policing teams which will provide a visible, accessible and responsive presence in communities. We will support the roll-out of neighbourhood policing with substantial investment through the new Neighbourhood Policing Fund (NPF) which will deliver 24,000 CSOs by 2008.
We are also working with stakeholders to develop a minimum set of powers which all CSOs need to play a full part in neighbourhood policing, and to develop role profiles linked to national occupational standards to enable forces to match recruitment, training and development programmes to the work that CSOs perform.
Claire Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when funding for community support officers in Watford will end; and what discussions he has had with (a) the police and (b) local authorities on (i) the requirement and (ii) the funding for these officers. [196577]
Ms Blears: We have notified forces that Home Office funding for community support officer (CSO) posts allocated under the three CSO funding rounds since 2002 is available until the end of March 2008.
Out target is to have 24,000 CSOs in place by 2008. We have allocated £50 million under the first round of the Neighbourhood Policing Fund (NPF) to recruit new CSOs before the end of March 2005 and to support their salary and related costs in 2005–06. Forces will be notified of their allocations shortly. Funding under this round of the NPF will also continue to be available until the end of March 2008.
Details of further rounds of the NPF will be announced next year. Decisions on funding arrangements for CSOs after 2008 will be made in the context of the next spending review.
The deployment of CSOs is an operational decision for chief officers.
Crime Victims
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to improve services to victims of crime. [190592]
Paul Goggins: The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill introduces a code of practice, binding on criminal justice agencies, which lists the services they should be delivering to victims. The code will create tangible statutory rights for all victims around the themes of information, advice, support and protection. The Bill will also establish a Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses to champion the interests of victims and witnesses across Government.
The Bill includes measures to improve the police response to domestic violence by making common assault an arrestable offence; and making breach of a non-molestation order a criminal offence, punishable by up to five years' imprisonment. It will also extend protection to victims by giving courts the power to impose a restraining order where a defendant has been acquitted but the court believes the victim needs protection.
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In April this year, we established a Victims Fund with the announcement of £4 million from the proceeds of crime to be spent on victims of sexual offending over the next two years. Some of this will be used to extend the number and coverage of sexual assault referral centres.
We also continue to support the voluntary organisation Victim Support in their work with victims and witnesses. Between 1997 and 2004 the Home Office's funding of Victim Support nearly trebled, from £11.7 million to £30 million.
In addition, we have been working to extend specialist support services for road traffic victims. Pilot projects, subject to independent evaluation, have been established in three areas to test approaches to service provision. Findings from the evaluation will steer future developments on national provision.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will amend the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme to enable a child injured by a foster parent with whose family he or she had been placed by a local authority to recover compensation under the scheme. [192742]
Paul Goggins: A child in such a case has in fact been eligible for compensation since the scheme rules were changed with effect from 1 October 1979 to admit cases of intra-family violence (where the victim and assailant were living together as members of the same family), which had previously been excluded. Proposals to admit cases involving intra-family violence occurring before the 1 October 1979 rule change have been considered whenever amendments to the scheme have been mooted. However, successive administrations have decided not to change the rule because it would add a large and unacceptable burden to the costs of the scheme.
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