§ 41. Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what further measures his Department is taking to help prevent car crime; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John PattenI refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to questions from my hon. Friends the Members for Brigg and Cleethorpes (Mr. Brown) and for Rugby and Kenilworth (Mr. Pawsey) on 23 June 1988 at columns680–81.
§ 60. Mr. KnapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has had on the measures his Department is taking to seek to prevent car crime.
§ Mr. John PattenCar crime accounts for approximately a quarter of all recorded crime, much of it preventable. We receive a steady flow of correspondence and comments from hon. Members and the public about the measures that can be taken to prevent it.
The Home Office standing conference on crime prevention has set up a working group on car crime which will report in December. The Rover Group, which is represented on the working group, is working on a theft-proof concept car, incorporating a range of the latest technology in car security, which will be displayed at this year's standing conference in December.
Five parts of a British standard on vehicle security (mechanical locking systems, security of in-car entertainment equipment, window etching, central power locking and deadlocking) have now been published and work is continuing on the final part, dealing with security glazing. Steps are being taken to have the British standard adopted as an EC directive.
Our new crime prevention publicity campaign, launched in March, includes information on car crime and the scope for preventing it.
In 1987 the number of offences of theft or taking of a motor vehicle recorded by the police in England and Wales fell by 5.2 per cent. compared to 1986. It is encouraging that this reduction coincided with measures taken by the Home Office and by police forces throughout the country with the specific aim of reducing car crime.