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Chapter 10: Home Office

10.1 The Home Office works to build a safe, just and tolerant society, in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families and communities go hand in hand, and the protection and security of the public are maintained. This is reflected in the targets to which the Home Office committed itself in the 2000 Spending Review, and in the further development of those targets in the 2002 Spending Review.

Public Service Agreement

10.2 The Home Office's new Public Service Agreement (PSA) includes new targets to:

• reduce crime and the fear of crime; improve performance overall, including by reducing the gap between the highest Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership areas and the best comparable areas, and reduce:
• • vehicle crime by 30 per cent from 1998-99 to 2004;
  • domestic burglary by 25 per cent from 1998-99 to 2005;
  • robbery in the ten Street Crime Initiative areas by 14 per cent from 1999-2000 to 2005;
    and maintain that level;
  • improve the performance of all police forces, and
• significantly reduce the performance gap between the best and worst performing forces; and significantly increase the proportion of time spent on frontline duties; and
• focus the asylum system on those genuinely fleeing persecution by taking speedy, high quality decisions and reducing significantly unfounded asylum claims.

Reform

10.3 The Police Reform Bill is seeking new powers to require police authorities to take remedial action when forces do not perform, the Police Standards Unit will publish comparisons between police forces' performance, and there will be new links between funding and performance for police Basic Command Units. Prisons' performance will be benchmarked over a seven year period, with contracting-out if they fail. There will be a tough new Criminal Justice System (CJS) inspection regime.

Performance

10.4 Crime has fallen by 22 per cent since 1997, including burglary down 39 per cent and vehicle crime down 26 per cent, according to the British Crime Survey. Robberies have risen, but this is being tackled effectively, including through the Street Crime Initiative. The average time taken to deal with persistent young offenders has reduced from 142 days to 63 days. The number of offences for which an offender is brought to justice has fallen, but this is being tackled. Police numbers are now at record levels and investment in new technology like the DNA database is starting to pay dividends.

The Criminal Justice System

10.5 The Criminal Justice System (CJS) encompasses the police, Crown Prosecution Service, criminal courts, prison and probation services. Policy responsibility for the CJS is shared by three ministers: the Home Secretary, the Lord Chancellor and the Attorney General. In the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), the Government undertook the first ever review of the performance and management of the CJS as a whole. The CSR, and subsequently the 2000 cross-departmental review, have improved the operation of the CJS by setting clear, shared objectives and targets.

Strengthening the Criminal Justice System

10.6 To improve performance and promote closer working across all elements of the Criminal Justice System, the Government:

• will publish a Criminal Justice White Paper to modernise the criminal justice system;
• will provide additional investment in modern, flexible, secure information technology across the CJS, as part of a new cross-departmental CJS IT Joint Budget, to promote closer working between the different parts of the CJS and streamline case management; and
• promote a tough new inspection regime for the CJS. The aim is to have an inspection regime, which is focused on reporting, auditing and driving up performance and value for money and able coherently to look across the various services and agencies in the CJS.

Reforming the police

10.7 The 43 police forces in England and Wales deliver vital services in catching offenders, protecting the public and reducing crime. The Home Office settlement provides for a significant real terms increase in police spending, including delivery of reform of police pay and conditions - better rewards for key frontline posts, and more flexible deployment of officers.

10.8 Alongside continued investment, the police are embarking on a programme of reform. The Police Reform White Paper set out a new framework to ensure high standards in policing. The new Police Standards Unit is helping to improve performance in forces and Basic Command Units. Building on these reforms, the Spending Review ensures:

• published comparisons of police forces linking resources to performance against key outcomes, including reducing crime and bringing offenders to justice;
• more effective delegation to the front line - £50 million each year directly allocated to Basic Command Units in high-crime areas for use, in consultation with Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, on local priorities; and a new link between performance of Basic Command Units and funding, enabling the channelling of funds to where there will be the greatest returns in improved performance; and
• effective accountability to local residents - local police commanders and local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships will make clear information available to households on their performance each year.

Reducing re-offending

10.9 Effective sanctions, which deter other offenders and reduce re-offending, are a vital response to criminal behaviour. To ensure the prison and probation service deliver these sanctions effectively and improve value for money consistently, the Government will:

• reform sentences and sentence delivery and ensure that there is clear information available to, and partnership with, sentencers on what sentences - custodial and non-custodial - work for what crimes, and on value for money, so that the use of prison is focused effectively on those who need to be there; and sanctions are effectively targeted to reduce re-offending;
• ensure that offenders are better equipped to lead law abiding lives - coupling more effective sentence management, rehabilitation in prison and the community, and enable prisoners to access mainstream services so that the causes of their offending are addressed and re-offending is reduced;
• separate responsibilities for setting standards, contracting strategy and performance monitoring from the operational management of the correctional services; and
• benchmark the performance of prisons over a seven-year period, with contracting-out if they fail.

Organised crime

10.10 The Government has in place a cross-Departmental Asset Recovery Strategy for recovering the criminal assets of drug-traffickers and serious criminals. The Government has set a target to double the amount of criminal assets seized to £60 million by 2004. The new Assets Recovery Agency will be key to achieving this target. Recognising the importance of seizing criminal assets to securing disruption of serious criminal activity, this Spending Review has put in place new incentives for the Home Office to deliver on substantially increased asset seizures.

Crime reduction

10.11 In addition to providing substantial new resources for the CJS, the Government is pledged to be tough on the causes of crime. Evidence suggests that social and environmental programmes, including interventions to tackle child poverty and deprivation, are key to delivering sustained reductions in crime. The cross-departmental review of crime reduction in 2000 concluded that such programmes should take more account of their potential for delivering crime reduction benefits. This conclusion was taken forward in the 2000 Spending Review decisions on investment and targets, and further progressed in this Spending Review. There will be improved services to treat children and young people with mental health problems; an extension of multi-disciplinary Behaviour and Education Support Teams to support schools and a continued commitment to reduce truancy; and substantial increases in funding for the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. There will also be new resources to fund additional support for parents and families in partnership with the voluntary and community sectors, which will offer early help to parents experiencing difficulties within the family.

10.12 Crime is very concentrated in particular local areas. There will be a new target to ensure that the police and their local partners allocate resources effectively and deliver on crime reduction in those areas most blighted by crime, and narrow the gap with the best performing comparable Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership areas.

Illegal drugs

10.13 Tackling the drugs threat continues to be a key priority, not only for the Home Office but also for HM Customs and Excise, the Department of Health, the Department for Education and Skills and others. The Spending Review provides new resources for increasing drug abuse testing and securing steps towards delivery of the key targets of doubling the number of addicts in treatment, and reducing drug-related crime.

Immigration, Nationality and Asylum

10.14 Migration has always been a source of labour and skills in the UK, and brings substantial benefits. Migrants fill skills gaps, meet labour shortages, introduce innovations and enterprises, and bring capital to invest in the UK. The Government has already introduced the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, developed a scheme for innovators to enter the UK, and has made it easier for employers to fill vacancies in shortage occupations. The Government is currently consulting on reforms to the Working Holiday-Makers and Seasonal Agricultural Workers schemes, to make the schemes more inclusive and to better meet the employment needs of the UK economy. This Spending Review boosts the capacity of Work Permits UK to provide support and assistance to small businesses to fill skills shortages.

10.15 The 2000 Spending Review provided substantial additional resources for asylum. The system has become more effective: 60 per cent of initial decisions are now delivered in two months and over 11,000 failed asylum-seekers were removed last year, a higher figure than in any other EU country. But further improvement is needed:

• the Nationality and Immigration White Paper and the Bill currently before Parliament, set out a major programme of reform. That will focus the asylum system on those genuinely fleeing persecution by taking speedy, high quality decisions, deterring unfounded asylum applications, and by opening routes for economic migrants; and
• a new PSA target to reduce significantly unfounded asylum applications has been agreed. This will now ensure the fundamental focus of the whole system is on deterring unmerited asylum applications, so that those genuinely fleeing persecution can be processed quickly. Those coming legitimately to the UK will be given the support they need to integrate and contribute to the economy and society;
• a new single asylum budget will be established, including asylum funding in both the Home Office and Lord Chancellor's Department, to promote effective end-to-end planning and management across the whole asylum system.

Spending plans

10.16 Home Office spending will grow by an average of 5.6 per cent a year over the next three years in real terms, based on a provisional allocation for asylum costs in 2002-03, and total CJS spending by an average of five per cent a year in real terms.

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Spending Review 2002 Report index