Written question asked by Lord Watson of Wyre Forest (Labour) on Thursday, 26 April 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 1 May 2007. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Tuesday, 1 May 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Community Development: Grants

Question: (5) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Connected Fund grants in reducing the levels of gun crime in areas where grants have been made.

Answer: 363 applications for grants have been received under Round six of the Connected Fund. An Assessment Panel will assess these applications on 3-4 May. A further Round may be held later this year, but a firm decision on this has not yet been taken.Budgets for 2008-09 and 2009-10 have not yet been confirmed, so it is not possible to give any figures on funding that may be allocated to the Connected Fund in these years at this stage.We publicise the Fund through direct mailing to community groups, through the Government Offices for the Regions, and through local media reporting. This has worked well, with each round of the Fund substantially over-subscribed.The Home Office is currently developing an evaluation of the effectiveness of project funding on guns, gangs and knives, covering both the Connected Fund and wider project funding. The Fund supports one part of our strategy to tackle gun crime, which focuses on policing, powers and prevention. Many of the grants from the Connected Fund are for projects to support young people as part of the long-term prevention strand.Figures released on 26 April show a reduction of 16 per cent. in overall gun crime in England and Wales in the 12 months to December 2006.

Secondary information