Tower Blocks

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 9 April 2001.

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Photo of Mike O'Brien Mike O'Brien Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office 12:00, 9 April 2001

What works is ensuring that we get the design of tower blocks right. We seek to promote the role of good design in community safety, particularly by the "secured by design" initiative administered by the Association of Chief Police Officers which encourages the adoption of guidelines to improve the security of estates and tower blocks. The scheme offers specific guidance on multistorey dwellings and stresses the importance of controlled access to tower blocks. Research conducted last year on a sample of 50 estates in West Yorkshire revealed crime rates per household which are between 40 and 50 per cent. lower on estates meeting "secured by design" principles. That is one of the key ways in which we hope to ensure that good practice is disseminated.