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STATEMENT Ref HO/EM/244/02 ______________________________________________________________________
CRIME LEVELS REMAIN STABLE FOLLOWING SIGNIFICANT FALLS SINCE 1997
The Home Secretary, David Blunkett today welcomed statistics that show overall crime levels remaining stable. But he confirmed that particular priority needs to be given to the fight against robbery and violent crime.
The Government''s annual crime statistics volume ''Crime in England and Wales 2001/02'', published today by the Home Office, shows that crime levels remain stable following significant falls since 1997.
The reduced level of burglary and car crime, which have fallen significantly since 1997, has been sustained. According to the BCS domestic burglary is down by 39 per cent since 1997, and vehicle crime is down by 26 per cent since 1997. The chances of being a victim of crime remain at around the lowest levels since the BCS began in 1981.
Robbery remains a key concern; the levels of robbery recorded by the police rose by 28% last year. Street robbery is the focus of the Government''s Street Crime Initiative, which began too recently to be reflected in any significant way in last year''s crime figures. The statistics show that robbery is concentrated in certain areas, with 82% of all recorded robbery taking place in ten police force areas.
''Crime in England and Wales 2001/02'' - publishes the annual police recorded crime statistics and the BCS, in one document for the first time, enabling the reader to get a broad picture of crime in this country.
Key findings from the BCS for Nottinghamshire are as follows:
Key Funding and Examples
* Street Crime Initiative - Nottinghamshire: * Whilst the force area has been identified as one of the ten street crime areas, Nottinghamshire Police have identified the Nottingham city centre has the prime ''hot spot''. HO funding of the initiative comprises £1m and £466k allocated from the CAD fund.
* Reducing Burglary Initiative: * £4,440,257 funding for 26 projects in the East Midlands under the RBI.
* The City of Nottingham project (£2.4m) is aiming to reduce the daily burglary rate from 17 to 13 and has led to the arrest of 94 persistent offenders in the last 12 months.
The Home Secretary, David Blunkett today welcomed the publication of statistics that show overall crime figures remaining stable whilst acknowledging that continued priority needs to be given to the fight to reduce robbery and violent crime. He said:
"Last July I announced that from this year the BCS would report on an annual basis with a substantially increased sample size, and that we would publish recorded crime and the BCS together. The largest ever BCS is now widely seen as the most accurate measure of people''s experience of crime. This new single publication will bring clarity to what is sometimes a confusing picture of crime statistics.
"The statistics indicate that overall crime levels were stable last year. The crimes that affect most people - burglary and vehicle crime - remain at the lower levels seen after the significant reductions in recent years. This fall in crime has been sustained thanks to increased police numbers, a focus on police performance and many crime reduction initiatives.
"While most crime continues to fall or remain at lower levels, I am concerned about the significant rise that we have seen in robbery offences. That is why we have given such high priority to the fight against street crime since March this year. This is now starting to have an impact. The Metropolitan Police have achieved real success in reducing street crime, with recorded street crime in London at its lowest level for 13 months, despite the acknowledged increase in crime that took place during the last year."
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. According to the BCS, crime continued to fall last year, by 2 per cent overall, although the change is not statistically significant. More significant are longer-term falls - crime is down 22 per cent since 1997 and by 14 per cent between 1999 and 2001/02.
2. Police recorded crime statistics showed an overall rise of 7 per cent for last year, but changes to police recording practices are estimated by ACPO and the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate (RDS) to account for at least 5 per cent of this apparent rise. 3. The new National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) was introduced formally in April 2002 and informally in some police forces prior to this date. This has had the effect of uplifting recorded crime by at least 5 per cent this year and is likely to raise next year''s figure by a further 15 to 20 per cent.
4. The BCS measures crime against adults (16 and over) living in private households in England and Wales. The Home Office has conducted it nine times since 1982. Today''s results relate to a sample of 33,000 people who were interviewed during the 2001/02 about their experience of crime in the previous 12 months. From this year, the BCS has now moved to an annual rolling cycle.
5. The NCRS and Home Office counting rules are available on the Internet at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/countrules.html. The Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate compile and publish crime statistics according to the National Statistics Code of Practice.
6. Media copies of ''Crime in England and Wales 2001/02'' can be obtained from the Home Office Press Office on 020 7273 4545. Non media copies can be obtained from the RDS Information and Publications Group on 020 7273 2084 or on the Internet at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/whatsnew1.htm
7. Tables relating to the East Midlands:
Police Funding and Numbers
Force Police Numbers Police Funding
Total 09/00 Total 09/01 No of Crime Fighting Fund recruits 2001/02 % change Police Funding Allocations 2002/2003 (1) % increase over 2001/02 (2) CFF 01/02 CFF 02/03 East Midlands 8,350 8,550 176 2.4%
£9.12m £14.2m Derbyshire 1,780 1,851 50 4.0% £95.0m 3.8% £2.30m £3.53m Leicestershire 2,010 2,062 65 2.6% £94.5m 2.5% £1.90m £3.37m Lincolnshire 1,162 1,184 2 1.9% £57.0m 2.3% £1.18m £1.68m Northamptonshire 1,166 1,180 1 1.2% £59.3m 2.3% £1.61m £2.10m Nottinghamshire 2,232 2,273 58 1.8% £118.5m 2.3% £2.13m £3.51m
(1) Police Grant allocations include Home Office Police Grant, Revenue Support Grant (inclusive of floors and ceilings) and National Non Domestic Rates.
(2) The average increase in grant in England and Wales for 2002/03 is 2.7%.
Recorded Crime in the East Midlands region: 2001/02
Region/force Violence against the person Robbery
Burglary Vehicle crime (1) All crime
Total % change on previous year Total % change on previous year Total % change on previous year Total % change on previous year Total % change on previous year England and Wales 650,154 8 121,375 28 878,535 5 983,323 1 5,527,082 7 East Midlands 48,231 11 6,049 29 79,000 8 79,272 5 447,898 9 Derbyshire 9,946 8 1,029 33 16,564 10 16,303 4 89,841 10 Leicestershire 11,204 5 1,166 9 13,032 -3 16,329 1 88,535 2 Lincolnshire 4,812 29 251 31 9,592 0 6,782 2 49,797 11 Northamptonshire 5,762 11 877 45 9,558 0 11,338 -1 60,485 7 Nottinghamshire 16,507 11 2,726 33 30,254 17 28,520 11 159,240 14
(1) Vehicle crime includes theft of motor vehicles, theft from a vehicle and aggravated vehicle taking.
8. Attached is a list showing the pages numbers and tables referring to East Midlands regional statistics in the report. Contact GNN East Midlands if you would like a copy of the report by email.
CRIME STATISTICS REPORT
Regional Tables
Page
116Table 4.04 Burglaries recorded by the police and BCS, by police force area and region 2001/02
126Table 5.03 Theft of and from vehicles recorded by the police and BCS, by region and police for area 2001/02
136Table 6.06 Violent crime recorded by the police and BCS, by police force area and region 2001/02
139Table 7.02 Recorded crime by offence group by police force area and region 2001/02
140Table 7.03 Recorded crime by offence group by police force area and region, percentage change between 2000/01 to 2001/02
141Table 7.04 Recorded offences by offence group by police force area and region, number per ''000 population in 2001/02
142Table 7.05 BCS victimisation rates and fear of crime by police force area and region
144Table 7.06 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships - Recorded crime for six key offences 2000/01 to 2001/02
151Table 7.07 Basic Command Unit - Recorded crime for six key offences 2000/01 to 2001/02
157Table 8.01 Recorded crime: annual detection rates by police force area and region, 1997/98 to 2001/02
158Table 8.02 Recorded crime detection rates by method of detection by police force area and region 2001/02
159Table 8.03 Recorded crime: detection rate by offence group and police force area and region 2001/02
164Table 8.05 Basic Command Unit - Detections recorded for six key offences 2000/01 to 2001/02
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BUILDING A SAFE, JUST AND TOLERANT SOCIETY
