HOME OFFICE News
Release (086/2009) issued by COI News Distribution Service on 12 May 2009
Local people will
be able to choose how money from a £4 million criminal assets fund
is spent in their area, alongside further targeted work to tackle
property-related crime and a tougher approach to dealing with
prolific offenders announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Home
Secretary Jacqui Smith and Justice Secretary Jack Straw today.
Speaking today at the first conference for Crime and Disorder
Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs), the Prime Minister unveiled the
Government's updated crime strategy - Cutting Crime: Two
Years On - and set out the Government's commitment to
tackling the new crime challenges the country faces. The action
the Government is taking will build on existing policies to
prevent crime and deliver responsive, visible justice which has
resulted in a fall in crime of almost 40 per cent since 1997.
The Prime Minister announced:
* A new programme tackling serious property-related crimes such
as burglary, robbery and car theft. This programme will target
interventions in areas where emerging problems are identified to
prevent them from becoming entrenched. Operation Vigilance will
include a £3 million scheme piloted in these priority areas will
intensify the targeting and management of known offenders, helping
police, probation and local authorities learn from what works and
how to use more proactive methods to target and catch offenders.
* Stronger powers to seize criminal assets and a greater public
say in how these are spent. The public will be able to have a say
on how a £4 million fund of cash seized from criminals is spent in
their local area. The fund will be available for local projects
and will be decided by local communities using websites,
neighbourhood policing meetings or citizens' panels. Powers
will also be introduced to ensure criminals must prove their
assets like boats and cars came from legitimate source. This
comes as the first performance tables showing the value of assets
seized by individual police forces are published today, showing in
the value of criminals' assets seized by the police has risen
from £100 million 2006/7 to more than £150 million by 2008/9.
* The first Virtual Courts pilot to ensure a speedier and more
efficient justice system for all. Cases could be heard at a
magistrates' court via secure video link from the police
station within four hours of a defendant being charged. If
successful, this could cut costs by £10 million a year, free up
police and magistrates' court's time and improve the
service given to victims and witnesses.
* Intensive Community Payback to be rolled out over the coming
year to even more unemployed offenders where they will have to
carry out demanding work for at least 18 hours a week. This will
ensure a significant loss of liberty and free time for more
offenders across England and Wales who must now wear branded
orange jackets so that the public can see that justice is being done.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:
"Since 1997 overall crime has dropped by nearly 40 per cent
and we continue to deliver on our vision of communities where
people feel confident to live their lives, free from fear of crime
and anti-social behaviour.
"Britain is far from broken and we have acted decisively
against new and difficult challenges to save lives from
knife-crime and gang-related violence. We are now facing tougher
economic times and I am determined, when people are feeling less
secure financially, we will do everything in our power to protect
their safety and security.
"That is why we're publishing an updated Crime Strategy
to address those new challenges and to show the army of police and
partners across the country that we keep listening and taking
action. Together we will continue to build safer communities."
Operation Vigilance will initially run for one year before being
reviewed and will build on partnership working between local
agencies to develop new methods of tackling property crimes like
burglary and theft with a view to sharing best practice on a
national scale.
The virtual courts scheme enables defendants charged in a
participating police station to appear in a magistrates'
court via a secure video link, speeding up first hearings and so
freeing up police and court resources and improving the service
given to victims and witnesses. It follows a prototype study in
July 2007 at Camberwell which found that the time between charge
and first hearing could be cut from an average of 10 days to
around four hours.
This builds on proposals in the recent Engaging Communities in
Criminal Justice Green Paper to give communities more say in the
way justice is delivered in their neighbourhoods. The green paper
included pioneering a package of measures in 30 areas across
England and Wales to test a range of initiatives that will deliver
justice for all and put people back at the heart of the justice system.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw said:
"I want people to have full confidence in the justice
system, and an important part of this is ensuring that justice is
done and seen to be done. People's chances of being a victim
of crime are the lowest since records began in 1981 and we are
determined to build on this to ensure our neighbourhoods are as
safe as they can be.
"The new crime strategy published today will do just that by
setting out a range of measures to help the police, probation and
local authorities better tackle acquisitive crime like burglary
and give people a say in how funds seized from criminals can be
used to pay back local communities. We are also ensuring that even
more offenders are carrying out intensive community payback as a
demanding punishment to repay the wrongs they have committed as
well as providing the prison capacity needed to lock up the most
serious, dangerous and persistent offenders.
"As well as this, I have today launched the first Virtual
Courts pilot to ensure a speedier and more efficient justice
system. Defendants could appear before court via a secure video
link from a police station just hours after being charged and, if
they plead guilty, be sentenced on the same day. This will
transform the way the justice system deals with crimes, free up
police time and improve the service given to victims and
witnesses."
Neighbourhood Crime and Justice Adviser
Louise Casey said:
"The public want to know that criminals face tough
consequences for their crimes. The further roll out of intensive
Community Payback as recommended in my review last year is giving
the public what they want. Community Payback schemes are not only
demanding, hard work but also give the public a say in what
criminals must actually do to serve their punishment and pay back
to local communities."
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The CDRP conference takes place at Stamford Bridge football
ground today and tomorrow (12 & 13 May).
2. The serious acquisitive crime programme will see improved
information sharing between police, probation and other agencies
and proactive methods used by police to monitor known offenders
will include naming and shaming in local media, officers stopping
offenders in the street and surprise home visits. This approach
has already been pioneered in West Yorkshire, Lancashire, London
and Nottinghamshire and has led to a 62 per cent reduction in re-offending.
3. It will also see a Retail Crime Action Plan drawn up to tackle
business crime, backed with £5 million. This is part of the £20
million announced by the Home Secretary at a burglary summit held
at the Home Office on 4 February. On 7 April the Home Secretary
announced how £15 million of that fund would be spent in the
Securing Homes initiative.
4. The one-year virtual court pilot will initially link Charing
Cross Police Station to Camberwell Green Magistrates Court with a
further 14 police stations across London joining over the summer.
A second pilot will run in North Kent from mid-June.
5. Virtual Courts will also be piloted at other London Police
Stations including Brixton, Kennington, Streatham, Peckham,
Walworth, Lewisham, Plumstead, Bromley, Croydon, South Norwood,
Sutton, Paddington Green, Belgravia, Bexleyheath. An estimated
15,000 cases are expected to be dealt with using the Virtual Court
during the one-year pilot. For more information on this scheme
contact the Ministry of Justice newsdesk on 020 3334 3536.
6. Tables of the assets recovered force by force are available at
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk
7. For more information contact the Home Office Newsdesk on 020
7035 3535.