§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about levels of(a) violent and (b) other crime in Surrey. [147]
§ Mr. DenhamThe table shows recorded violent crime (violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery) and other crime statistics in Surrey for the 12 months to September 2000.
Offence Number Violence against the person 6,594 Sexual offences 590 Robbery 342 Burglary 7,576 Theft and handling 22,045 Fraud and forgery 4,272 Criminal damage 10,189 Drug offences 1,727 Other offences 844 Total 54,179 The recorded crime statistics for the 12 months to March 2000 show that Surrey had the second lowest number of crimes per 100,000 population in England and Wales. However, a boundary change involving Surrey and Metropolitan police forces took place on 1 April 2000, when Surrey took on some areas from the Metropolitan police. Figures for Surrey before and after that date are therefore not directly comparable. By excluding the boundary effect (i.e. by assuming these areas were policed by the Metropolitan police throughout the period), the increase in overall crime in Surrey in the 12 months to September 2000 compared with the 12 months to September 1999 is an estimated 3 per cent. The Government are committed to reducing all crime, including violent crime, and to tackling the causes of crime, ensuring proper punishment of those who break the law and providing the resources necessary to tackle crime. 41W Although there continues to be an increase in the number of violent crimes recorded by the police, the rate of increase is slowing down and crime overall has fallen under this Government. The British Crime Survey, which is widely accepted as the most authoritative source of information on the real rates of crime, indicates that violent crime has been falling since 1995, and reduced by 4 per cent. between 1997 and 1999, the latest date for which figures are available.