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22 Feb 2010 : Column 336W—continued
Business: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to extend to small businesses in Essex the fund to provide grants to help small retailers combat crime affecting their businesses; and if he will make a statement. [316920]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The £5 million Small Retailers' Capital Grants fund was made available for 2009-10 to provide physical crime reduction measures for small independent shops in 50 priority areas, to help reduce incidents of shoplifting and other crimes against retailers. There are currently no plans to extend the availability to other areas, but through the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG)'s Action Plan, we are taking action that will help to tackle retail crime in every area.
The NRCSG was set up by the Home Office in partnership with the British Retail Consortium and it provides a forum for Government, law enforcement agencies and retailers' representatives such as the Association of Convenience Stores and Federation of Small Businesses to discuss and devise action to tackle crimes of concern to retailers.
Cocaine
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information his Department holds on changes in the pattern of cocaine use in the last 10 years. [317554]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The most reliable measure of the prevalence of use of drugs is the British Crime Survey (BCS). In 2008/09, the latest full year for which data are available, the proportion of respondents aged 16 to 59 reporting the use of cocaine on at least one occasion in the last year was 3.0 per cent. For cocaine powder, the figure was 3.0 per cent. and for crack cocaine 0.1 per cent.
Data from the 1998 BCS show that 1.3 per cent. of respondents reported the use of cocaine in the last year (1.2 per cent. cocaine powder; 0.1 per cent. crack cocaine).
Following sharp increases in cocaine use recorded during the late 1990s, the level of use has remained broadly stable since 2000, although the rate of increase between 2007-08 and 2008-09 is statistically significant.
Crime
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) fixed penalty notices, (b) conditional cautions and (c) public disorder notices were issued in England and Wales in each year since 2005. [317275]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Information on the number of fixed penalty notices for motoring offences issued from 2005 to 2007 can be found in table A. Data on fixed penalty notices for 2008 are scheduled to be published on 15 April 2010.
Information provided by the Ministry of Justice, on the number of penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) issued in England and Wales 2005 to 2008 can be viewed in table B.
Data on conditional cautions are not available as they are not separately identified in the data on cautions reported to the Ministry of Justice.
| Table A: Number of fixed penalty notices issued for motoring offences, England and Wales 2005-07 | |
| Number of fixed penalty notices issued( 1) | |
| (1) Figures rounded to the nearest thousand | |
| Table B: N umber of penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) issued to offenders of ages 16 and over in England and Wales, 2005-08( 1) | |
| Total PNDs issued( 2) | |
| (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (2) PNDs were rolled out nationally on 1 April 2004. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice. Ref: 071-10 | |
Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the average (a) number and (b) proportion of crimes committed by an offender in the geographical area within 20 miles of the home address of that offender in the last 12 months. [318046]
Mr. Alan Campbell: No estimates have been made centrally about crimes committed in relation to addresses of offenders.
Crime Prevention
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has undertaken on the efficacy of crime prevention measures in respect of persons who have an acquired brain injury; and if he will make a statement. [311492]
Mr. Alan Campbell [holding answer 18 January 2010]: The Home Office has not commissioned any research into this topic.
Crime Prevention: Expenditure
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department spent on national awareness campaigns relating to (a) gang crime, (b) gun crime and (c) terrorism in each of the last five years. [315642]
Alan Johnson: In the last five years the Home Office has spent no money on national awareness campaigns relating to (a) gang crime, (b) gun crime and (c) terrorism. Spending on awareness raising campaigns has been focused at a local and regional level.
In September 2008 the Home Office produced the leaflet "You and Your Child-Advice for Parents on Gangs", this was a regional communication only although was made available on the Direct.gov website.
The Home Office has funded a national awareness campaign around the possession of knives (as opposed to gangs or guns) with the message 'It doesn't have to happen'. Viral adverts online and on mobiles have received 11 million views.
In addition, billboards were displayed in 85 community sites across the country and reached millions of 10 to 16-year-olds. In November, 'It Doesn't Have To Happen' was awarded the best public sector and charity campaign at the prestigious Campaign 2009 Media Awards.
In addition, through the Tackling Violence Action Plan, the Home Office has provided funding to the third sector organisation 'Be Safe'. 'Be Safe' undertakes weapons awareness workshops with young people to raise awareness of the consequences of carrying weapons, particularly knives.
Crime: Feltham
Alan Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the level of recorded crime was in Hounslow constabulary area in (a) 1997 and (b) the latest period for which figures are available; [316691]
(2) how many (a) recorded crimes, (b) recorded violent crimes, (c) burglaries and (d) vehicle thefts there were in Feltham and Heston in (i) 1997 and (ii) the latest year for which information is available. [316702]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Recorded crime data are not collected specifically at constituency level and data are therefore not available for Feltham and Heston. The available data cover the most appropriate Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) area, which is Hounslow.
Since CDRP data are only available from 1999-2000 onwards, figures for 1997 cannot be provided. Data for Hounslow for 2008-09 are given in the table.
| Selected offences recorded by the police in Hounslow 2008-09 | |
| Offence | Number of offences |
Alan Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department spent on programmes to tackle the misuse of drugs in Feltham and Heston in (a) 1997-98 and (b) 2008-09. [316700]
Mr. Alan Campbell: In 2008-09, the Home Office provided funding of £806,158 to Hounslow Drug Action Team through the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) Main Grant. The constituency for Feltham and Heston comes under the London borough of Hounslow. DIP also made an allocation of £6.4 million to the Metropolitan Police Service for drug testing in 2008-09. Some of the £6.4 million would have been used to fund drug testing in the borough of Hounslow; the level of resource provided to Hounslow was decided centrally by the Metropolitan Service.
DIP is a key part of the Government's strategy for tackling drugs and reducing crime. The programme is delivered locally via drug action teams using integrated teams known as criminal justice integrated teams supported by regional Government office leads and the National Treatment Agency. Using a case management approach they aim to offer access to treatment and support.
A number of specific and individual Home Office grants have been combined into area-based grant (ABG), which is allocated to local authorities on a three-year basis to maximise stability and certainty. The receiving authorities have flexibility to use ABG as they see fit to deliver local, regional and national priorities in their respective areas.
Funding data for 1997-98 are not readily available.
Crime: Statistics
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the methodology used in the compilation of national crime statistics has been changed or redefined since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [317276]
Mr. Alan Campbell: Home Office Counting Rules (HOCR) underpin the standards for the recording and counting of notifiable offences recorded by police forces in England and Wales (known as 'recorded crime').
There have been two major changes to the methodology used for the compilation of crime statistics since 1997. In April 1998 the HOCR were amended to count crimes on a per victim rather than per offence basis, with also significant extension of the coverage of offences included in the notifiable list.
In April 2002 the HOCR were revised to take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) which was adopted with the aim of recording crime in a more victim-focused way and maintaining greater consistency between police forces in the recording of crime. The change meant that where a crime is reported by a victim to the police it will be recorded unless there is credible evidence to the contrary.
Crimes of Violence
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent crimes against the person have been recorded by police forces in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years. [317960]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) was introduced in April 2002 and figures before and after that date are not directly comparable.
The requested data for 1999-2000 to 2001-02 are provided in table A and those for 2002-03 to 2008-09 are provided in table B.
| Table A: Recorded violence against the person offences, 1999-2000 to 2001-02 | |
| Total violence against the person offences | |
| Table B: Recorded violence against the person offences, 2002-03 to 2008-09 | |
| Total violence against the person offences | |
| (1) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in April 2002. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. (2) Includes the British Transport police from 2002-03 onwards. (3) As in previous years, police figures for the latest year in this table and elsewhere remain subject to change as forces continue to submit further data (e.g. Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary is conducting a quality assurance exercise of all forces' recording of most serious violence offences which may prompt further revisions). | |
Crimes of Violence: North East
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reports under each category of violent crime have been made in each (a) local authority area in Tyne and Wear and (b) police authority in the North East since April 2005; what changes have been made to the definitions of each category in that period; and what discretion police forces have in respect of the categorisation of such crimes. [317993]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The term 'violent crime' is no longer used. Data are supplied for violence against the person offences. The number of offences recorded by police forces in the North East and for the local authorities of Tyne and Wear for 2005-06 to 200-09 are shown in Tables A to H placed in the House Library.
The police record offences following the guidance provided by the Home Office Counting Rules. These provide a national standard for the recording and counting of notifiable offences recorded by police forces in England and Wales and help maintain a greater consistency between police forces in the recording of crime. In April 2002 the National Crime Recording Standard principles were introduced so that when a victim reported a crime the police had to record it unless there were credible evidence to the contrary. This removed significant discretion that had previously applied in police recording of crimes.
In each police force, a Force Crime Registrar (FCR) is responsible for deciding to which offence a particular crime should be recorded. These FCRs, along with representatives of the Home Office, ACPO and HMIC meet regularly to discuss and review the counting rules. These rules are designed to ensure that each police force records crime in a way comparable to other forces.
The counting rules, and changes to definitions can be viewed at the following link:
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