§ 4. Maria EagleIf he will make a statement on the proportion of reported crimes which resulted in conviction in (a) 1980 and (b) 1996. [20159]
§ Mr. MichaelIt is not possible to give the information in precisely the form requested. I have looked at the figures carefully, however, and the facts are startling. In 1980, one offender was convicted of indictable offences for every six crimes recorded by the police. By 1996, that rate had deteriorated from one in six to one in 17.
§ Maria EagleI thank the Minister for that reply, which seems to confirm how much worse clear-up rates became under the previous Conservative Administration. What reassurance can he give to the residents of Dymchurch estate in Speke who suffer from the behaviour of young children and youths wandering the streets with hammers and pickaxes, causing nuisance, vandalism, who are gradually demolishing that estate? What reassurance can my hon. Friend give my constituents that things will improve under this Administration?
§ Mr. MichaelMy hon. Friend is right to say that things got progressively worse under the previous Administration. That deterioration was brought to light in a paper published by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary before the election. What we offer to overcome those problems is the contents of the Crime and Disorder Bill—the way in which we intend to speed up youth justice; action to nip things in the bud with young offenders; the move from repeat cautioning to the final warning system; and the introduction of sentences that will work as a deterrent.
In addition, the partnership approach will involve the police and local authorities in identifying problems such as those on estates such as Dymchurch. We will make sure that they take action to prevent problems from developing and to cut the existing crime rate.
§ Sir Sydney ChapmanOf more relevance, would the Minister confirm that the number of offences cleared up last year rose by 1 per cent. compared with the clear-up rate in 1995? Without any sense of complacency, would he not say that that represents a significant improvement given that the number of recorded crimes has dropped by 10 per cent. in the past four years?
§ Mr. MichaelOf course, that increase was from a low base and after a massive deterioration, as illustrated by the 644 figures that I gave earlier. The hon. Gentleman is being extremely complacent about the performance of his Government.
§ Dr. IddonLast Saturday night in my constituency, a young taxi driver, Quadir Hussain, aged 32, was involved in an incident with four passengers in his cab. As a result, he was so frightened that he fled and was pursued by one of those passengers across the extremely busy dual carriageway, the A666, where he was hit by an oncoming car and killed. This afternoon the drivers of private hire cars in Bolton are meeting to discuss the ever-rising number of incidents involving them. Will my hon. Friend please note that incident, and join the rest of the House in sending Mrs. Hussain and the rest of the Hussain family our sincerest condolences?
§ Mr. MichaelI certainly join my hon. Friend in expressing condolence. Any such event is absolutely horrific. We need to learn lessons from any such occasion, which can be done only when we know the full facts of the actual incident. My hon. Friend is right to remind us that individual events are not just statistics but involve human beings whose lives are often mined as a result, as are the lives of their loved ones.
§ Sir Brian MawhinneyOne statistic of the past 10 years that will cause concern to both sides of the House is the reduction of 24 per cent. in the conviction rate for rape, while the number of rapes recorded has increased threefold. The Home Secretary has said that he will legislate to stop intimidatory cross-examination of rape victims by those who are accused of raping them. In the past few days, however, the Lord Chancellor has warned of the serious difficulty in doing that, because of the incorporation of the European convention on human rights into British law. As in other subjects, which Cabinet Minister should we believe?
§ Mr. MichaelIf there are problems with the ECHR, they would exist whether or not it was incorporated into our law, because we are signed up to that convention. The point is that there are serious difficulties in relation to the number of successful prosecutions for rape and increasing people's confidence in the system. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has established a working party of officials, which will report early in the new year on a range of matters, including ways to enable people to be certain that they will be protected and can give their evidence in a proper manner. We hope that that will make a great impact on the confidence felt by victims about how the system operates.