---

Home Office

Answer

Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Preseli Pembrokeshire constituency, the effects on Preseli Pembrokeshire of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [211321] 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 Preseli Pembrokeshire 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 Dyfed-Powys Police Force increased by 160 from 1,005 to 1,165. The Government's introduction of Community Support Officers (CSOs) in 2002 has put 11 CSOs on Dyfed- Powys streets to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. Between 1997 and 2003-04, Dyfed-Powys has seen a reduction in recorded domestic burglary crimes of three per cent. and in recorded vehicle crimes of two per cent. Dyfed-Powys Police Force is receiving £52.2 million in general grants for 2005-06, an increase of 3.75 per cent. (£1.9 million) over 2004-05. Dyfed-Powys 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 £1.3 million less. General grants funding to Dyfed-Powys has increased by 24 per cent. between 1997-98 and 2005-06. In addition to general grants, Dyfed-Powys will also receive around £6 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 antisocial 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 Pembrokeshire CDRP area received a total of £234,900 from the CRP. Since 2001, successive initiatives have provided direct funding to each of the 376 Crime Safety Partnerships (CSPs, formerly CDRPs) 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 £496,631 has been allocated to Pembrokeshire CSP under these initiatives. A further £1.42 million has been provided over the two years 2003-04 and 2004-05 to the Home Office Regional Director in the National Assembly for CSP capacity building across Wales. It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. There is a Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) scheme in Pembrokeshire set up to target those offenders who cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour in the community. 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 antisocial behaviour orders to local dispersal orders and crack house closure powers, to work with local people to tackle antisocial behaviour and nuisance. In Pembrokeshire a total of 11 antisocial behaviour orders have been issued as of February 2005. Local contacts for tackling antisocial behaviour can be found on http://www.together.gov.uk/authority.asp. 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 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.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

211321; 431 c715-7W;431 c711-3W

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Government departments Home Office Policy Pembrokeshire

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk