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Departmental Policy
Jim Knight:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical
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evidence relating as closely as possible to the South Dorset constituency, the effects of changes to departmental policy since 1997 on the South Dorset constituency. [202726]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Government have put in place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the South Dorset constituency, as well as for all parts of the UK.
For example, between March 1997 and March 2004, the number of police officers in the Dorset police force increased by 169, from 1,284 to 1,453. The Government's introduction of Community Support Officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 33 CSOs on Dorset streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 1997 and 2003–04, Dorset has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of 27per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of 25 per cent.
Dorset police force will receive £66.0 million in general grants in 2005–06, an increase of 3.75 per cent. (£2.4 million). Dorset benefits from the decision to provide a funding floor of 3.75 per cent. If the funding formula had been strictly applied, the force would have received £4.2 million less. General grants funding to Dorset police has increased by 22 per cent. between 1997–98 and 2005–06. In addition to general grants, Dorset will also receive around £5 million in specific grants funding for targeted initiatives in 2005–06. The distribution of resources locally is a matter for the Police Authority and the Chief Constable.
As crime prevention requires action across communities, every area has had a local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) since 1998 which brings together the police, health services, drugs agencies and council and community representatives to decide how to prevent and deter crime and anti-social behaviour.
The Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) was a pioneering government intervention programme which ran for three years from April 1999 in England and Wales and took an evidence-based approach to crime reduction. Grants of over £340 million were allocated to over 1,470 projects, including CCTV, under 20 initiatives that formed part of the programme. Two CCTV projects in the Weymouth and Portland CDRP area received a total of £691,489 from the CRP.
Since 2001, successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in England and Wales. These initiatives include Communities Against Drugs, the Safer Communities Initiative, the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas scheme and the Building Safer Communities Fund. Since 2001, a total of £380,488 has been allocated to Weymouth and Portland CDRP and £295,714 to Purbeck CDRP under these initiatives. A further £1.98 million has been provided over the two years 2003–04 and 2004–05 to the Home Office Regional Director in the South West for CDRP capacity building across the region.
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The Government's Crime Reduction website provides further information on the work being done to reduce crime across the country, including information about action and results in local areas. It is available at http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk.
New legislation has given local agencies a raft of powers, from anti-social behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle antisocial behaviour and nuisance. In Dorset a total of 56 anti-social behaviour orders have been issued as of 27 January 2005, including eight in Purbeck and 12 in Western Dorset (which includes Dorset West and Weymouth and Portland). Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www.together.gov.uk/authority.asp.
Tackling drug misuse is a priority of this Government and their policy is set out in the 10-year National Drug Strategy launched in 1998 and updated in December 2002. (A copy of the Updated Drug Strategy 2002 is held in the House Library.) Under this, the Government have invested substantially in measures to reduce the harms caused by illegal drugs, focusing on the four strands of:
Direct annual funding nationally to tackle drug misuse amounted to £1,244 million in 2003–04, rising to £1,344 million in 2004–05. Dorset has seen a significant increase in direct funding for tackling drugs, in particular for drug treatment services and the throughcare and aftercare elements of the Drugs Intervention Programme. In 2003–04 the allocation for Dorset Drug Action Team amounted to £1.58 million, rising to £2.09 million in 2004–05. Details of action taken to tackle drugs in the South Dorset constituency can be obtained from the Dorset Drugs Action Team For contact details see http://www.drugs.gov.uk/Links/DrugActionTeams.
The Government are working to ensure that citizens, communities and the voluntary sector are more fully engaged in tackling social problems, and there is more equality of opportunity and respect for people of all races and religions. Active community participation in England has increased by 1.5 million people between 2001 and 2003. Charities have been supported more effectively, and £125 million is being invested across the country through the futurebuilders" fund in voluntary and community organisations that help provide valuable public services. Advice on ways to engage local people in helping their communities is available on the Active Citizenship Centre website, http://www.active-citizen.org.uk.
This year, 2005, is the year of the volunteer which is being delivered by the Home Office in partnership with Community Service Volunteers and Volunteering England. This will include a whole range of events in
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local communities across the country that aim to celebrate the contribution which volunteers make to the quality of people's lives, and encourage more people to volunteer. We are particularly keen to encourage young people, black and minority ethnic groups, those with no qualifications and disabled people to get involved. More details can be found at www.yearofthevolunteer.org.
Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in the Home Office Annual Report and in the Strategic Plan for 2004–08, available on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk.
Essex/Southend Police
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prosecutions for (a) failing to provide a breath test and (b) failing to
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provide a breath specimen for analysis (i) Essex Police and (ii) Southend Police have brought successfully in each year since 1997; [211441]
(2) how many prosecutions for (a) disobeying a police constable stopping traffic and (b) failing to stop for a police constable (i) Essex Police and (ii)Southend Police have brought successfully in each year since 1997; [211442]
(3) how many prosecutions for failing to comply with a road sign (a) Essex Police and (b) Southend Police have brought successfully in each year since 1997. [211443]
Ms Blears: The available information taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database for Essex Police force area and South East Essex petty sessional area, 1997 to 2002 (latest available) is given in the tables.
2003 data will be available in March 2005.
(7)Covers both magistrates' courts and the Crown Court.
(8)Covers magistrates' courts only.
(9)Covers Southend and includes parts of Rayleigh, Benfleet and Canvey.
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(10)Covers Southend and includes parts of Rayleigh, Benfleet and Canvey.
(11)Includes findings of guilt at South East Essex PSA and at Southend Crown Court.
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