(2) if he will estimate the cost to (a) the economy and (b) the public purse of anti-social behaviour in each local authority area in the South West in the last year for which figures are available.
A one day count of antisocial behaviour issues undertaken by the Home Office in 2003 to understand the impact on key service providers estimated that the cost to Government agencies of responding to reports of antisocial behaviour in England and Wales was approximately £3.4 billion per year. The costs related only to the financial costs to agencies of dealing with antisocial behaviour and did not include indirect costs to local communities and businesses, as well as emotional costs to victims and witnesses. The cost of not taking action against antisocial behaviour is much higher.
Information on the amount spent by local authorities, including those in the South West Region, on tackling antisocial behaviour is not collected centrally. Home Office funding for local authorities to tackle antisocial behaviour now form part of the general Area Based Grant (ABG) paid by the Department of Communities and Local Government. This grant is designed to increase the funding flexibility and allow local areas much greater freedom to spend money in a way they see fit to support the delivery of local, regional and national priorities in their areas.
Other Home Office led activities also act to tackle antisocial behaviour, for example the introduction of community support officers in the South West region, but a monetary value cannot be assigned to that contribution. Similarly, other programmes and services contribute, sometimes indirectly, to tackling antisocial behaviour, including diversionary activities for young people, neighbourhood wardens, as well as neighbourhood policing and neighbourhood management.