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 area | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 20013 |
England and Wales | 927 | 726 | 874 | 799 | 892 |
England | 865 | 694 | 821 | 752 | 855 |
England—non-Met counties | 369 | 382 | 396 | 423 | 415 |
Avon | 15 | 23 | 15 | 13 | 16 |
Bedfordshire | 0 | 13 | 8 | 20 | 10 |
Berkshire | 5 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 2 |
Buckinghamshire | 12 | 3 | 17 | 12 | 9 |
Cambridgeshire | 9 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Cheshire | 21 | 11 | 14 | 24 | 10 |
Cleveland | 36 | 24 | 12 | 31 | 5 |
Cornwall | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
Cumbria | 5 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 7 |
Derbyshire | 9 | 25 | 12 | 4 | 14 |
Devon | 20 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 21 |
Dorset | 5 | 1 | 13 | 5 | 13 |
Durham | 17 | 25 | 10 | 12 | 10 |
East Sussex | 8 | 1 | 8 | 19 | 17 |
Essex | 11 | 21 | 5 | 16 | 15 |
Gloucestershire | 14 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 |
Hampshire | 6 | 8 | 15 | 20 | 24 |
Hereford & Worcester | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
Hertfordshire | 4 | 19 | 30 | 19 | 8 |
Humberside | 8 | 37 | 26 | 9 | 32 |
Isle of Wight | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Kent | 20 | 6 | 14 | 6 | 17 |
Lancashire | 34 | 34 | 28 | 45 | 41 |
Leicestershire | 17 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 21 |
Lincolnshire | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
Norfolk | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 4 |
North Yorkshire | 11 | 1 | 5 | 26 | 5 |
Northamptonshire | 4 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 10 |
Northumberland | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
Nottinghamshire | 18 | 43 | 9 | 29 | 15 |
Oxfordshire | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 11 |
Shropshire | 10 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
Somerset | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 15 |
Staffordshire | 3 | 13 | 26 | 11 | 19 |
Suffolk | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
Surrey | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 |
Warwickshire | 10 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
West Sussex | 2 | 0 | 26 | 8 | 0 |
Wiltshire | 4 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 10 |
Isles of Scilly | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
England—Met Counties | 496 | 312 | 424 | 329 | 440 |
Greater Manchester | 146 | 103 | 110 | 55 | 101 |
Merseyside | 123 | 48 | 58 | 56 | 49 |
South Yorkshire | 21 | 20 | 13 | 20 | 43 |
Tyne and Wear | 28 | 33 | 23 | 33 | 32 |
West Midlands | 59 | 42 | 55 | 64 | 50 |
West Yorkshire | 58 | 31 | 54 | 42 | 75 |
Greater London | 60 | 36 | 112 | 59 | 90 |
Wales | 62 | 32 | 54 | 47 | 37 |
North Wales | 17 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 0 |
Mid and West Wales | 12 | 14 | 14 | 25 | 0 |
South Wales | 33 | 3 | 31 | 16 | 37 |
1 Including late call and heat and smoke damage incidents. | |||||
2 Figures are based on sampled data weighted to true brigade totals. | |||||
3 Provisional |