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22 Oct 2007 : Column 138W—continued
Crime Prevention: Schools
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will assess the effectiveness of the experiment initiated by East Renfrewshire Council in appointing of police officers to three secondary schools; whether there is evidence that the level of vandalism and other youth offences has dropped as a result; and she will consider the merits of introduction of further campus police officers in England and Wales in the light of her findings. [158627]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 17 October 2007]: The scheme in East Renfrewshire appears similar to a scheme we operate in England and Wales called Safer Schools Partnerships (SSPs). Originally launched in areas targeted by the Street Crime Initiative in 2002, there are now over 400 SSPs in one form or another across the country. Guidance (from Home Office, DFES, YJB and ACPO) was issued in March 2006 which illustrates the different ways schools and police forces should consider SSPs as part of their response to a range of local challenges, including reducing youth offending and antisocial behaviour.
Under the SSP scheme, a dedicated police officer is allocated to a school or a group of schools, often based on-site to work with pupils, school staff and the wider community to identify and work with young people who are at risk of poor behaviour, truancy, victimisation, offending or social exclusion. Having a dedicated officer develop a close relationship with a school has the dual benefit of helping to tackle pupil behaviour or attendance issues as well as building trust and positive relations between the police and young people. It encourages greater confidence in the police by making them more visible and accessible and provides young people with a valuable role model.
SSPs have been shown to be a successful mechanism for ensuring structured joint working between schools and police. Evaluation by the YJB has shown they are proving effective in improving behaviour and attendance, with truancy falling significantly and pupils and staff feeling much safer. Furthermore, SSPs have been shown to help develop strong and positive relationships between the police and young people, and to help young people develop a sense of being part of the local community.
My right hon. Friend the Minister for Security, Counter-Terrorism, Crime and Policing my noble Friend Lord Andrew Adonis, Under-Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families have encouraged the adoption of the approach with a joint letter to chief constables in England and Wales in November 2006 requesting that they discuss Safer School Partnerships with their local education partners to encourage them to engage in this type of early intervention. Ministers wrote again to chief constables in England on 26 June 2007 asking them to consider a further push to develop Safer School Partnership support for schools in their communities which had been identified as ones which would most benefit.
Crimes Against Property
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of recorded incidents of criminal damage in England and Wales in the most recent year for which figures are available. [158131]
Mr. McNulty: Police recorded crime figures showed a 0 per cent. change in total criminal damage between 2005-06 and 2006-07. Of the 1,185,111 offences recorded, 41 per cent. (484,977) were to a vehicle, 24 per cent. to a dwelling (289,839) and 14 per cent. to a building other than a dwelling (161,307). There was a 6 per cent. fall in the number of arson offences recorded by the police between 2005-06 and 2006-07 to 43,103 offences.
Total criminal damage accounted for 30 per cent. of all property crime, and 22 per cent. of all recorded crime in England and Wales for 2006-07.
A complete set of recorded crime statistics for the offences within the criminal damage group are published in table 2.04 of the Statistical Bulletin 11/07 “Crime in England and Wales 2006/07” on the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at the following address:
Custodial Treatment: Driving Under Influence
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions for drink-driving resulted in custodial sentences in each year since 1997, broken down by police authority. [159228]
Mr. Coaker: The latest available information is given in the following tables.
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