To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration she gave to including intellectual property crime in the National Community Safety Plan for 2008 to 2011; and if she will make a statement. (240576)

The National Community Safety Plan (NCSP) was revised in December 2007 to communicate how the vision and objectives set out in our national crime strategy ("Cutting Crime: A New Partnership 2008-2011") have been embodied in the current cross-cutting PSA framework. Both documents now give local partners a greater flexibility in setting their crime priorities, in accordance with local needs and in consultation across the local community.

Both the crime strategy and the NCSP cover organised crime, which includes some intellectual property crime. More widely, recent legislation introduced by the Home Office, including new asset recovery powers and the Serious Crime Act 2007, provide important tools in tackling intellectual property crime. The UK Intellectual Property Office has lead responsibility for the Government's national strategy on intellectual property crime and produces regular enforcement reports.