HC Deb 02 February 1989 vol 146 cc415-7
6. Mr. Harris

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the most recent figures for thefts of motor vehicles in England and Wales.

The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. John Patten)

In the 12 months ending September 1988 the total number of recorded offences of theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicles was 371,800. This represented a fall of 6 per cent, compared to the corresponding period in 1987.

Mr. Harris

I welcome that fall, but does my right hon. Friend agree that auto crime of this sort still accounts for about 40 per cent, of all recorded crime, and does he think that the British insurance industry could do more to encourage motorists to make their cars safer, for example by giving a reduction on their insurance premium if they fit some anti-theft devices?

Mr. Patten

My hon. Friend has put his finger on a very important point. The British insurance industry and the Association of British Insurers are already doing a lot to encourage motorists to fit better security devices, by giving them better advice. On the other hand, I hope that increased competitive pressure within the British insurance industry will perhaps lead to more opportunities for motorists to shop around to get the sort of insurance premiums that recognise the fact that they take care of their motor cars.

Mr. Tony Banks

Is the Minister aware that in Forest Gate, in the London borough of Newham, we have the highest incidence of car theft in, I think, the whole of Europe? In parenthesis, I might tell him that we also have in Newham the highest birth rate in London, so I assume that I know what everyone is doing in the back seats of those cars they have stolen.

Given the serious problem that we have in Newham, will the Minister give an undertaking that a major campaign will be launched in the borough to prevent car theft?

Mr. Patten

I shall not comment on one part of the hon. Gentleman's question. The possibility of a campaign is certainly something that the hon. Gentleman would wish to bring to the attention of the Metropolitan police. For example, a recent six-month campaign in the Northumbria constabulary area brought about a substantial reduction in car thefts by targeting. I think that it can be done.

Mr. Mudd

Is my hon. Friend aware that although his Department wrote to a Manchester firm on 16 December, that firm is still advertising the availability of skeleton keys at £30 a set, capable of opening 95 per cent, of all foreign and British cars, including those with high security locks? Not only does the firm continue to trade, but it is canvassing for trade by picking buyers spasmodically and at random from the Yellow Pages. Will my hon. Friend do something to curb this abuse of security?

Mr. Patten

The Department is continuing to look into it at the moment.

Mr. Hattersley

On the subject of figures that are calculated and kept on the police national computer, why did the Under-Secretary of State tell the House a moment ago that there were no plans to privatise the national computer when the Home Secretary himself wrote to me on 20 January telling me that there were?

Mr. Patten

I think that the right hon. Gentleman is misrepresenting what my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary said. My right hon. Friend will undoubtedly place a copy of the letter in the Library.

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