What action it is taking to improve street safety throughout Lanarkshire.

The level of funding provided to police forces is now at record levels as are police numbers.It is an operational matter for the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police to determine how to use the funding at his disposal to meet local needs and priorities within the Strathclyde area. I understand that police in North Lanarkshire, in partnership with the local authority, are undertaking an initiative to tackle drinking in public. Whilst no such specific initiative is planned for South Lanarkshire, at this stage, police in the area tackle hotspots in regard to disorder, drinking in public and underage drinking throughout the year and will continue this over the summer and beyond.Under the previous challenge funding arrangements for CCTV and community safety, we have partially funded 13 CCTV projects in: Airdrie Town Centre; Motherwell Town Centre; Belshill; Wishaw Town Centre; Belshill Town Centre; Greenend and Coatbridge; Craigneuk Housing Estate; Cumbernauld Town Centre; Forgewood Estate; Hamilton Town Centre; East Kilbride; Rutherglen, Burnside and Cambuslang, and Westwood Square East Kilbride, as well as four community safety projects.On 31 October 2001, we announced details of a new Community Safety Partnership Award programme to supersede both the CCTV and Community Safety Challenge Competitions. The programme will allow Community Safety Partnerships to secure, for the first time, sustained mainstream funding to be used solely for the purposes of taking forward their community safety agendas and to identify and address local priorities. For 2002-03 North Lanarkshire Community Safety Partnership has been allocated a total community safety award of £183,102.40 and South Lanarkshire Community Safety Partnership have been allocated £178,841.42.Under the Better Neighbourhood Services Fund, North Lanarkshire Council and its community planning partners have developed a pathfinder focusing on improving community safety in a number of deprived neighbourhoods in South Wishaw and North Airdrie. One of the key aims of this pathfinder is to reduce the fear of crime in disadvantaged communities and a number of initiatives are being put in place which will improve street safety. These are improved street lighting, the development of Neighbourhood Warden and inter-agency detached streetworker schemes and the funding of 10 additional police officers.Substantial resources have also been allocated to the Lanarkshire area to tackle drug misuse.