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Arson

Volume 407: debated on Monday 16 June 2003

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To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what target the Government have set to reduce the number of malicious fires relating to school premises; when the target was set; and if he will make a statement. [119200]

The Government have a target of a 30 per cent. reduction in the number of deliberate fires, including school premises, by March 2009. The target was set following the Spending Review 2000, and the results reported in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Annual Report 2003.Following the Spending Review 2002, fire targets are being reviewed and a revised deliberate fires target will be announced in the Government's forthcoming Fire White Paper, due shortly.Arson is one of the major fire threats facing us today. In 2001, we established the Arson Control Forum to provide the strategic direction to the national fight against arson. The Forum is taking forward a programme of measures that will address arson in its many forms, including deliberate school fires.To date, the Forum has invested some —2.25 million in local initiatives. These include programmes aimed at educating children about the dangers of playing with fire. We have allocated a further —13.3 million over the next three years to build on this programme of work.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many malicious fires relating to school premises there were in each year since 1997, in each fire brigade area across England and Wales. [119201]

The following table contains information on the number of malicious fires in schools attended by local authority fire brigades in England and Wales in each year between 1997 and 2001 (the latest calendar year for which data are available). Malicious fires are those where malicious or deliberate ignition was proved or suspected (this includes fires which were recorded by the brigade as "doubtful").

Malicious fires1,2in schools by brigade, England and Wales, 1997–20013
Brigade area199719981999200020013
England and Wales927726874799892
England865694821752855
England—non-Met counties369382396423415
Avon1523151316
Bedfordshire01382010
Berkshire561052
Buckinghamshire12317129
Cambridgeshire97800
Cheshire2111142410
Cleveland362412315
Cornwall01500
Cumbria521537
Derbyshire92512414
Devon200131321
Dorset5113513
Durham1725101210
East Sussex8181917
Essex112151615
Gloucestershire140085
Hampshire68152024
Hereford & Worcester08045
Hertfordshire41930198
Humberside83726932
Isle of Wight00000
Kent20614617
Lancashire3434284541
Leicestershire1710111721
Lincolnshire80500
Norfolk001104
North Yorkshire1115265
Northamptonshire41511010
Northumberland54445
Nottinghamshire184392915
Oxfordshire129511
Shropshire1010540
Somerset660415
Staffordshire313261119
Suffolk60008
Surrey50058
Warwickshire100045
West Sussex202680
Wiltshire419710
Isles of Scilly00000
England—Met Counties496312424329440
Greater Manchester14610311055101
Merseyside12348585649
South Yorkshire2120132043
Tyne and Wear2833233332
West Midlands5942556450
West Yorkshire5831544275
Greater London60361125990
Wales6232544737
North Wales1715860
Mid and West Wales121414250
South Wales333311637
1 Including late call and heat and smoke damage incidents.
2 Figures are based on sampled data weighted to true brigade totals.
3 Provisional