In his first major speech of 2002, on his home patch, Home Secretary David Blunkett sought to put the best gloss on the government?s crime reduction efforts.
In a January 11 speech to a residents group in Sheffield Home Secretary David Blunkett said: ‘We are going in the right direction both in fighting and preventing crime, and in building stronger communities that are empowered to take responsibility themselves for making the places where they live and work safer. We now have the most innovative crime reduction and prevention programme that we have ever seen in this country. We have an unprecedented set of measures in place that deal with the potential for criminal behaviour with programmes that begin from birth.’ He gave the example of action against truancy; almost one-third of the entire prison population were truants from the age of 11 and two-thirds of school age offenders sentenced in court are non-attenders or excluded from school. The Standards Fund grant for tackling truancy, improving discipline and education for excluded pupils rises to £174m this year. That means an extra £43m available this year to tackle poor behaviour with truancy the top priority, Mr Blunkett said. He added that crime is falling overall: ‘… the chances of becoming a victim of crime is at its lowest for 20 years and we will shortly have a record number of police officers. But the key challenge remains to reduce not only the level of crime itself, but also the fear of crime felt by individuals and communities. We all carry responsibility for the society and communities in which we live. The government takes its responsibilities seriously to prevent and reduce crime and to build stronger communities. But others have to do the same. That means everyone from government to police and the wider criminal justice system, family, individuals and the wider community. All of us have responsibility for the society we live in. I accept mine on behalf of the Government, but nobody else should be passing the buck either. Only by combined endeavour can we change the communities in which we live. I know that just talking about the millions of pounds of investment being spent does not automatically make people feel safer in their communities or that anything concrete is being done. Only by seeing how that money is being spent on the ground can they appreciate the range of measures in place to prevent and reduce crime." Mr Blunkett admitted a growing problem with street robbery and mobile phones in particular, but told Sheffield Tenants and Residents Together: ‘Five years ago public concern was highest over the high volume crimes of burglary and vehicle crime that affect the most people. Now, thanks to a huge push by Government and all concerned, the rates for those offences have dropped significantly. In particular I want to give credit to car manufacturers for playing their part in making their products harder to steal and I am now looking for the mobile phone industry to do the same. Anyone reading recent reports would think that crime, and violent crime in particular, is now spiralling out of control. The reality is very different.’
