The Government are supportive of the development of alley-gates, and once evaluation of the current pilot is complete, I will examine the outcome.
I am sure that my hon. Friend will join me in congratulating all those connected with alley-gates. Currently, the results are favourable. Other than commenting on the money needed to roll out the scheme, will he say when he expects to get the final results of the pilot, and when he expects to be able to roll out the project to the rest of the region?
I thank my hon. Friend for his support of the alley-gating scheme. An evaluation has been undertaken, and the Government have contributed more than £500,000 towards the implementation of 180 new alley-gates across alleys in Northern Ireland. Those have had a positive effect on crime prevention, and, in conjunction with the Executive, we will examine how to take the scheme forward in due course. The evaluation will report in the summer, and I am confident that it will show great success for the alley-gating scheme in reducing both crime and, more significantly, fear of crime. I hope that we will look positively at developing the scheme once the evaluation is complete.