Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

£300million to fund

At a joint press conference held on 9 April 2001 by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, and the Cabinet Office Minister, Ian McCartney, £300million worth of new measures were announced to enable communities to fight drug-related crime. The Communities Against Drugs package will target resources in four key areas:

• £220m over three years for police and local communities in England and Wales to disrupt local drug markets and drug-related crime

• £50m to accelerate the drug-testing programme within the criminal justice system and break the drugs-crime cycle (Drug testing pilot schemes to test acquisitive crime and Class A drug offenders are due to begin shortly in Hackney, Stafford and Nottingham. Evidence of the effectiveness from these pilots will be used to inform final decisions on where best to spend the new funding.)

• £15m over three years to help Drug Action Teams work effectively in their local communities

• £5m over two years to help Positive Futures schemes to steer young people away from drug misuse through sport

• A Communities Against Drugs Toolkit.

In launching the new measure the Chancellor brought attention to the importance of tackling drug crime in the community, pointing out that legislation and money are themselves not sufficient to beat drugs.

The Communities Against Drugs strategy aims to give power back to local communities to help them fight against illegal drug use. They have published a 40-page booklet explaining the background to the project, their aims and how they intend to achieve them. Download the booklet PDF 209K.

£220m will be spent on a new campaign to reduce drug-related crime. Funding will be directed through Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships to support a variety of drug-busting schemes, including:

• high visibility policing of drug hotspots;

• increase in neighbourhood wardens;

• sponsorship of parents and residents groups;

• improved security including CCTV and street lighting; and

• extra truancy sweeps.

Positive Futures, launched in March 2000, is a sports initiative that aims to reduce anti-social behaviour, crime and drug use among 10-16 year-olds within local neighbourhoods. It is a partnership between the UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordination Unit, the Youth Justice Board and Sport England – so far 24 projects have been set up around the country with a further 80 planned. 

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Date modified: July 2003
Review date: July 2004
Originator: Webmaster

Last update: Tuesday, October 03, 2006