§ Mr. FallonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on levels of violent crime. [5160]
§ Mr. DenhamCrime overall has fallen under this Government. The most recent British Crime Survey, which is widely recognised as providing the best picture of long-term trends in crime, shows a drop in violent crime of 4 per cent. between 1997 and 1999. But we know72W from the increase shown in police recorded crime figures that level of violent crime remains too high and we must continue to do all we can to reduce it.
Our strategic approach to tackling violent crime is based on improving support for victims, more efficient, intelligence-led policing, more effective punishment, dealing with the causes of violent crime and tackling the conditions which breed violence.
Last year we gave £20 million to the five metropolitan forces which account for nearly three quarters of all recorded robberies, specifically to assist them in meeting their five-year robbery reduction targets. They have used the money to introduce a number of new initiatives and to reinforce good practice. These include the targeting of hotspots (including transport routes) and offenders based on better intelligence, higher visibility of uniformed officers on the street, mobile CCTV vans, a range of publicity measures, improved recording, scene of crime management, investigation and identification techniques; youth diversion measures, the creation of safe routes into city centres, and targeted anti-mobile phone theft campaigns.