The
Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Paul Goggins):
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, South on securing
the debate. In a way, when he speaks about his constituency and the
problems of antisocial behaviour, youth nuisance and the fear of crime
among older people, he speaks for every Member of Parliament because
those issues concern us all. His constituents will be pleased that he
has raised these matters on their behalf.
My hon.
Friend rightly says that people want effective policing. That means
better access to policing, more responsive police services in Northern
Ireland and elsewhere, and the partnership that he spoke of between the
police, statutory agencies and community organisations. As we move into
more responsive and better partnerships between the police and the
wider community, that strong partnership will be absolutely essential.
In Northern Ireland, in recent years, we have developed the
infrastructure to enable that partnership to develop through the
district policing partnerships that are in every district council area
and community safety partnerships. I hope that those two arrangements
will work ever closer, but without duplication. They have different
roles—district policing partnerships deal with scrutiny and
accountability and community safety partnerships bring the delivery
agents together—but there is much that they can do together. I
look forward to discussing that with the Policing Board in the near
future, because there is great enthusiasm for
it. My
hon. Friend talked about antisocial behaviour and the fear of crime
among older people. The Northern Ireland Office has sought to do
something about that. Currently, we are evaluating consultation on a
strategy to give greater reassurance to older people in the community.
We have had several initiatives such as the Lock Out Crime scheme and
the Good Morning projects, all of which are designed to help older
people to be less fearful of the crime that is undeniably still in
their communities. Therein lies the challenge. I can tell my hon.
Friend that crime in Northern Ireland fell by 10 per cent.
last year—that is what the figures tell me—but in a
survey undertaken last year, three out of four people said that they
thought crime had increased. The difficulty is that, although the
statistics tell us that crime is coming down, people feel anxious and
are concerned. That is why partnerships between the police and the
community are so important. In Dungannon, where they have gone ahead
with neighbourhood policing in a particular area, crime on that estate
has fallen by 17 per cent. because of that effective
partnership. My
hon. Friend mentioned the cases of Mr. Holland and
Mr. McGreevy. These horrific crimes have had a terrible
impact on the families concerned and they have spread fear and concern
more widely across the community, and the community wants and needs us
to respond
appropriately. My
hon. Friend also mentioned funding. In this year and the next two
years, there will be £1.1 billion to spend on policing in
Northern Ireland. It needs that money—I do not deny
that—but in the long discussions that I had with hon. Friends
about the funding settlement for policing in Northern Ireland, we got
within £88 million pounds between what the board
asked for and what we gave, in relation to a three-year period, despite
the fact that during those discussions the amount that it was asking
for increased by £300 million. By any measure, particularly
given the recent tight spending round, this was a fair
settlement. I
am not saying that there are not hard choices and judgments to be made.
Of course, I should like to see
police community support officers in Northern Ireland, just as I see
them in my constituency, because I know the difference that could made.
However, the judgment has to be left to the Chief Constable and the
Policing Board, in terms of their priorities as they seek to ensure
that policing is as effective as possible. My hon.
Friend mentioned the goodwill behind policing. He is right. May I say
that his party has played a huge role in getting Northern Ireland to
where it is today in terms of policing. The composition of policing has
changed dramatically, from around 8 per cent. Catholic representation
just 10 years ago to almost 25 per cent. now and rising, up to the
target of 30 per cent. in the near
future. The
political support means that all parties are engaged in policing on the
Policing Board and in the district policing partnership. My hon.
Friend’s party stood first on representation from his community
and I commend him and his colleagues for doing so and for playing a
prominent role. The pay-off is better representation and more reporting
of crime, which has to be
welcomed. I
want to see new, imaginative ways forward in terms of developing
community partnerships. I recently launched the west Belfast community
safety forum, an initiative that is trying to bring all the partners
together. There will be other initiatives. We need that focus at
community level to make a real
difference. Within
my Department we have the community safety unit, to which I recently
announced an £18 million allocation over three years. Half that
money will go to local partnerships, which will mean practical things
like the “summer splash” schemes happening over the
summer months, midnight football and many other imaginative ideas to
try to divert these people, which is
important. When
it comes down to it, I know that my hon. Friend will agree that we
need, at local community level, accessible, visible policing in
partnership with local community organisations with good communication
to build confidence. The Chief Constable, the police service as a whole
and the Policing Board are absolutely up for that model of policing.
That can only be good news for Northern
Ireland. Question
put and agreed
to. Adjourned
accordingly at two minutes to Seven
o’clock.
| 
