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Victim Support
14. Mr. Paul Goggins (Wythenshawe and Sale, East): What action he is taking to support the work of Victim Support. [80963]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. George Howarth): At least a Labour Member is here to ask a question--we have lost Questions 12 and 13. As my hon. Friend will know, we are making a very substantial increase in Victim Support's annual grant. This year's grant will be £17.3 million, and, by 2001-02, it will be £19 million, an increase of50 per cent. over last year's figure. Most of the extra money will be used to establish a new and much-needed witness support service in magistrates courts.
Mr. Goggins: I congratulate my hon. Friend on providing a much-needed, substantial increase in funding for Victim Support. Will he join me in congratulating the staff and the volunteers of Victim Support in Trafford and in Wythenshawe, who do so much to help my constituents? Will he ensure that as much help as possible goes to Victim Support groups in our poorest communities, which so often feel the worst impact of crime?
Mr. Howarth: Of course I join my hon. Friend in congratulating Victim Support groups in the Greater Manchester area, particularly those that he mentioned. He is quite right to say that the victims of crime are most often to be found in the poorest areas. It is a myth that crime strikes only in areas where people are wealthy. We make every effort to ensure that Victim Support groups in areas of great desperation and high crime are properly funded and resourced. My hon. Friend was quite right to say that it should be a priority.
Crime and Disorder Strategies
15. Mr. Tony McNulty (Harrow, East): If he will make a statement on progress in establishing local crime and disorder strategies. [80964]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Paul Boateng): I refer my hon. Friend to my response to my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble). I would add that consultation with local communities about the crime and disorder strategies has led to the empowerment of entire communities in the fight against crime. It is about partnership and making a concerted effort to tackle local crime and disorder problems, and it is working.
Mr. McNulty: I thank my hon. Friend for that response. Does he agree that the real strengths of crime and disorder strategies are simplicity and partnership, and that had the Tories spent rather more time concentrating on partnership instead of demonising local government during their 18 years in power, our communities might be far safer?
Mr. Boateng: My hon. Friend makes his point in his usual forceful and trenchant way. I agree with him and congratulate him, his local authority and, importantly, the health authority in Harrow which is working alongsidethe voluntary and statutory sectors, recognising the
importance of partnership in preventing and reducing crime. The role of the health authority is particularly important and it has been helped enormously by the efforts of my hon. Friend.
Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham): Notwithstanding the characteristically sycophantic gloss put on public policy by the hon. Member for Harrow, East (Mr. McNulty), how does the Minister expect local police forces to implement crime and disorder strategies to the maximum effect, given that their funding will increase by only 0.1, 0.3 and 1.4 per cent. respectively over the next three years?
Mr. Boateng: The hon. Gentleman, who is an assiduous attender in the House and contributor to our discussions, will no doubt soon earn himself, by his abject sycophancy, a place on the Opposition Front Bench. We look forward to that day. In the meantime, we shall continue to spend an extra £1.24 billion on the police, money that the Opposition never had in their Budget and are now not willing to match.
Closed Circuit Television
16. Mr. Jeff Ennis (Barnsley, East and Mexborough): What assessment he has made of the likely increase in the use of CCTV to combat crime. [80966]
The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Paul Boateng): We announced on 16 March that £170 million would be made available over the next three years to support the deployment of closed circuit television to combat crime and disorder. Guidance for crime and disorder reduction partnerships on how to apply for funding under the initiative will be issued soon.
Mr. Ennis: I am sure that that reply will be received extremely well by my constituents. At present, three very successful CCTV schemes operate in my constituency. One covers Barnsley town centre, and another Doncaster town centre. The third covers Grimethorpe, the former mining community that has been badly affected by drugs-related crime over the past three years. However, whenever a CCTV scheme is begun, the problem arises of crime being displaced from the area that it covers to neighbouring areas that are not so covered. Does my hon. Friend have any hard evidence about that displacement?
Mr. Boateng: The evidence that we have is that displacement is not an issue. It is interesting to note that CCTV seems to be capable of reducing crime in a particular area without displacing it to surrounding areas. That is one reason why the initiative taken in this matter by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is so very welcome. However, CCTV has to be part of a whole package. There is no substitute for police-public partnerships or vigilance on the part of the public but,in conjunction with them, CCTV can--and does--make a real contribution.
Mr. James Gray (North Wiltshire): The £170 million that the Minister has just announced will be welcome in many communities, but it is in stark contrast to the paltry £1 million that has been spent since the Government came into office. In my constituency, the people of Chippenham have had to fund their so far rather limited CCTV
installation themselves. In the new funding proposals,will the Minister undertake to examine closely Chippenham's desire to expand CCTV coverage in the town centre?
Mr. Boateng: The point is that, under the previous Government's budget for CCTV, £1 million was made available: under this Government, the sum is £170 million. The hon. Gentleman would do better to ask the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir N. Fowler) whether he is prepared to do battle with the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Mr. Maples) and other colleagues to match that figure. If Conservative Members cannot say that they will match it, they would do best to button their lips on the matter.
Mr. Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley): The use of CCTV has been a huge success in Chorley. Its introduction has been most welcome, but CCTV needs to be extended into the parishes, which may be smaller but are just as important. That would help with the fight against crime in the rural parts of my constituency.
Mr. Boateng: I have visited my hon. Friend's constituency, and well remember the CCTV scheme there. I urge my hon. Friend to put in a bid on the parishes' behalf. The Government have made £170 million available, but it is now possible for bids to be reopened, and I am sure that my hon. Friend will put his bid in.
Open Prisons
17. Mr. Howard Flight (Arundel and South Downs): If he will review the procedure for selecting candidates to serve their prison sentences in open prisons; and if he will make a statement. [80967]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. George Howarth): I hope that the hon. Gentleman will agree that, quite properly, the principal criterion for the allocation of prisoners to open conditions is that they are assessed as posing a low security risk. The Prison Service reviewed categorisation procedures for male prisoners last year, and is piloting a revised formula. Most importantly, it has also developed a systematic risk assessment for determining the suitability of women prisoners for open conditions.
Mr. Flight: I thank the Minister for that response, but Ford open prison is in my constituency and I can tell him that the system is not working terribly well, as was shown by the escape of a prisoner who had a serious criminal record and who had also escaped from his previous prison. An ex-governor told me that the governor's job was much like that of the headmistress of a boarding school for girls who has to solicit inmates by telephoning around junior schools.
There is no central system governing the allocation of prisoners from closed prisons to open prisons. Some closed prisons are pioneering their own open units, while some open prisons are inadequately filled. Does the Minister accept that the system that he described is not working as intended?
Mr. Howarth:
As I said, that is being considered, but Ford's occupancy rate is 73 per cent. of operational
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