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Crime: Victims

Volume 486: debated on Thursday 15 January 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many victims of crime have benefited from the Youth Crime Action Plan in (a) England and Wales, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. (245011)

The Government are committed to driving down youth crime and keeping the communities, including young people themselves, safer and reducing youth victimisation.

Information on how many victims of crime have benefited from the Youth Crime Action Plan (YCAP) is not available either from the British Crime Survey (BCS) or police recorded crime data as the action plan has only been published for a few months. However, following a recommendation of the independent Smith review of the Home Office crime statistics, the British Crime Survey is being extended to include those aged under 16 years from 2009. This will assist in providing a clearer understanding of youth victimisation. We know that young people are more likely to be victims of other young people, and we are committed to driving down levels of youth victimisation. Through the implementation of the YCAP, we have introduced a new national objective to substantially reduce the number of young victims by 2020.

As part of YCAP, in October 2008 we announced that five areas across the country have been awarded a share of nearly half a million pounds to undertake pilot work to create the next generation of support services for young victims of crime.

These areas are Derby, Lambeth, Norfolk, Lewisham and Oxfordshire.

Also it was announced in September 2008 that £56.5 million of the YCAP money will be used to tackle youth crime across England in 69 local authority areas.

Each of the 69 areas were being offered £700,000 to implement an intensive package of action over the next three years, with an immediate cash injection of £90,000 available to each local authority in (2008).

This builds on the excellent work already under way in many local areas across the country and on the Government’s track record in investing in children and young people. Measures will include:

Operation Stay Safe—using safeguarding laws to remove young people at risk from the streets at night;

street-based teams of youth workers and ex-gang members to tackle groups of young people involved in crime and disorder;

increased visible police patrols during after-school hours;

expanding Family Intervention Projects to respond more effectively to families at risk;

providing positive activities for young people;

placing youth offending team workers in police stations so that young offenders can be dealt with and directed to the most appropriate service at the earliest opportunity; and

making young offenders feel the consequences of their actions by expanding reparation during their leisure time, including on Friday and Saturday nights.

Of the 69 local authorities areas, those in the North East have agreed to deliver the following measures to tackle youth crime in their area:

Darlington

Operation Stay Safe

Street based teams

Youth Offending Team in custody suite

Durham

Youth Offending Team in custody suite

After school patrols

Family Intervention Programme (FIP)

Gateshead

Street based teams

Youth Offending Team in custody suite

Reparation in leisure time

Hartlepool

Street based teams

Youth Offending Team in custody suite

Operation Stay Safe

After school patrols

Reparation in leisure time

Family Intervention Programme (FIP)

Think Family

Middlesbrough

Street based teams

Youth Offending Team in custody suite

Reparation in leisure time

Newcastle upon Tyne

Street based teams

After school patrols

North Tyneside

Youth Offending Team in custody suite

Family Intervention Programme (FIP)

Redcar and Cleveland

Reparation in leisure time

Street based teams

Family Intervention Programme (FIP)

South Tyneside

Street based teams

Stockton-on-Tees

Street based teams

After school patrols

Reparation in leisure time

Sunderland

Youth Offending Team in custody suite

Reparation in leisure time

Family Intervention Programme (FIP)