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Home Office Strategic Plan

This document from the Home Office sets out new objectives for the period 2004 - 2008. The Home Office aims to deliver these through a new neighbourhood approach and with a greater focus on prolific offenders.

Title: Confident Communities in a Secure Britain - The Home Office Strategic Plan 2004-2008
Author: The Home Office
Number of pages: 136 (summary: 31)
Date published: July 2004

The plan sets out on a grand scale the aims and objectives of the Home Office over the next 4 years. Of specific interest to crime reduction is a new Home Office objective, with 2 associated Public Service Agreement targets:

Objective I: People are and feel more secure in their homes and daily lives.

  • PSA 1: Reduce crime by 15%, and further in high crime areas, by 2007-08.

  • PSA 2: Reassure the public, reducing the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour, and building confidence in the Criminal Justice System without compromising fairness.

The plan also outlines a re-focusing of Home Office efforts to engage local communities to a greater degree than in the past. A far greater emphasis is placed on communities and active citizens in meeting Home Office objectives, as demonstrated by the graphic below

The plan also gives a good deal of detail of achievements over the past 7 years from across the full range of Home Office activities and of the future programme of work. A summary of the programme is given below

Programme of Work

Building strong, cohesive communities

By 2008:

  • The Home Office will have increased voluntary and community engagement, especially among those at risk of social exclusion.

  • The Home Office will have reduced race inequality and, in the areas most at risk, built community cohesion.

  • The Home Office will have a more active, vibrant not-for-profit sector, supported by modern infrastructure, up-to-date charity legislation and new community interest companies.

  • There will be an established Commission for Equality and Human Rights with a clear focus on improving outcomes, through enforcement of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

  • The Home Office will use legislation to prevent the incitement of religious hatred.

  • The Home Office plan to have introduced ID cards to help people prove their identity and entitlement to public services.

Tackling anti-social behaviour

By 2008:

  • The Home Office will have further reduced public concern about anti-social behaviour by ensuring action is taken across England and Wales.

  • The Home Office will have expanded neighbourhood policing across the country through a new Neighbourhood Policing Fund – enough to support the recruitment of an extra 20,000 Community Support Officers.

  • The TOGETHER campaign will have been expanded to enable the public to play their part in tackling anti-social behaviour – by getting more involved in their communities and by holding public services to account to ensure they do more to support the law abiding majority.

  • Specialist anti-social behaviour prosecutors and anti-social behaviour courts will deliver justice more effectively and ensure a greater level of accountability to the public on the problems that can make people's lives a misery.

  • There will be dedicated anti-social behaviour resources and support in 50 action areas. These areas will identify their 50 worst anti-social behaviour cases and ensure that perpetrators are challenged, and that the full range of enforcement tools are used and ensure the behaviour is stopped. In these areas, public accountability is critical – we will ensure that members of the public are aware of the action being taken to deal with anti-social behaviour, and are encouraged to play their part.

Reducing the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour, building confidence in the Criminal Justice System, and supporting victims and witnesses

By 2008:

  • Fewer people will worry about becoming a victim of crime.

  • Fewer people will feel that anti-social behaviour is a problem in their area.

  • More people will think their local police are doing a good job, are visible and accessible, and there will be increased public confidence that the Criminal Justice System is effective in bringing offenders to justice.

  • Black and minority communities will have more confidence in the fairness of the Criminal Justice System and that it works for them and not against them.

  • Victims and witnesses will feel they are central to the system and will be more satisfied with their experience of the Criminal Justice System. A Victims' Commissioner will champion victims' interests and a Victims' Fund will provide practical and emotional support at local and national level. New Witness Care Units will provide a single point of contact for witnesses from charge through to sentencing.

Preventing crime by reducing the number of young people who become offenders

By 2008:

  • There will be 2,500 children's centres covering the most disadvantaged areas.

  • There will be at least 50% more programmes for young people at risk of offending, offering mentoring, extra training and other forms of activities and support.

  • The educational achievement and participation by children in underperforming and vulnerable groups (in particular children in care) will be improving year-on-year.

Reducing the harm caused by illegal drugs

By 2008:

  • The Home Office will have prevented more young people from developing problematic drug use, through education and early intervention, and all schools will be delivering high quality drugs education.

  • The Home Office will have had a sustained impact on the supply of Class A drugs to the UK and their availability within our communities, including seizing a greater proportion of drugs entering the UK.

  • The Home Office will have substantially reduced drug-related crime, especially in those communities most in danger of being destroyed by drugs. 1,000 drug misusing offenders should be directed into treatment each week.

  • The Home Office will have reduced the demand for drugs by increasing the provision of prompt and effective treatment to 200,000 problem drug users, compared to 100,000 in 1998, and by providing more rehabilitation and aftercare.

Preventing crime by reducing opportunities and tackling alcohol abuse

By 2008:

  • People and businesses will be less vulnerable to crime as a result of targeted information and prevention measures, and will feel more reassured as a result.

  • Cars and mobile phones will be more difficult to steal and more houses will be better secured. Public places will be safer with better lighting, CCTV and a visible police presence.

  • The Home Office will have reduced alcohol-related crime.

  • There will be more rigorous enforcement of laws on under-age drinking and not serving those who are already drunk.

  • There will be fewer irresponsible alcohol promotions, greater alcohol education and more policing of town centres in the evening – supported by contributions from the alcohol industry.

A modern, responsive police service working with communities to prevent crime and catch offenders

By 2008:

  • A new Neighbourhood Policing Fund will support the spread of neighbourhood policing teams across the country.

  • The equivalent of at least 12,000 officers will have been freed up for front line duties. The Home Office will continue to maintain record police numbers and will provide funding to support the recruitment of 20,000 new CSOs.

  • There will be a fundamental shift to a customer service culture within the police service with minimum standards of service in place, for example in dealing with non-emergency calls.

  • The public will have a real say in local policing, including at neighbourhood level and every household will be given the information they need on local crime levels and police performance.

Other work

In addition to those outlined above, the strategic plan covers other aspects of the Home Office's work that touch on areas of crime reduction.

  • A joined-up Criminal Justice System

  • Offender management

  • Organised crime

  • Terrorism

  • Migration

  • Home Office internal re-organisation

Getting a copy

The Home Office strategic plan is available as a PDF file as either a summary or full document.

In addition to the plan the Home Office has published an introductory article - Why Local Policing Matters - by David Blunkett. This explains the thinking behind the new strategy.

Last update: 20 July 2004

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