Elderly Crime Victims (Hansard, 19 July 2002)

§ Mr. Paul Marsden
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many victims of crime there were aged 65 and over in each year since 1997 in each constabulary. [56569]

§ Mr. Denham
Recorded crime statistics collected centrally do not identify the age of the victim, and therefore the requested information is not available for individual police forces. Information on the age of victim is only available from the 2000 sweep of the British Crime Survey (BCS). The BCS estimates that in 1999 there were 273,000 personal crimes in England and Wales committed against those aged 65 and over. Those aged 65 and over represent 20 per cent of the population for England and Wales, but only experience 4.9 per cent of all personal crimes. The BCS also estimates that there were a further 1,090,000 household crimes against households headed by persons aged 65 or over. These BCS figures cannot be reliably broken down to constabulary level.
Personal offences here covers assault, robbery, theft from the person, other personal theft. Household offences here covers bicycle theft, burglary, theft in a dwelling, other household theft, theft of and from vehicles and vandalism to household property and vehicles. The BCS does not cover crime against those not living in private households, for example in care homes.

§ Mr. Paul Marsden
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government are taking to reduce crime against pensioners. [58365]

§ Mr. Denham
British Crime Surveys show that elderly people are far less likely to suffer crime than younger people. But we recognise the impact that crime can have on elderly people. In addition to the work we are pursing to reduce crime generally, we have funded several schemes specifically to tackle crime against the elderly.
We have set up a Distraction Burglary Task Force, with £1 million Home Office funding, to gather data, publicise good practice, raise awarenes and provide guidance for victimes of this type of burglary, which is committed predominantly against the elderly.
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We have allocated over £1 million, under the Crime Reduction Programme, to three distraction burglary projects in Leeds, Sheffield and a consortium of forces led by Derbyshire.
We have funded a two-year programme to provide home security upgrades for low income pensioners in areas with burglary rates above the national average. This scheme runs in conjunction with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA's) Warm Front scheme, which provides heating and insulation improvements. By the end of May, some 114,000 eligible homes had been surveyed, of which over 58,000 are receiving additional locks or bolts.
We know that people over the age of 65 are among the most likely to fear crime despite being the group least likely to become a victim of crime. Research suggests this may in part be because the impact of crime can be far more traumatic for the elderly and vulnerable than for those of a younger age.
We are working closely with Age Concern and Help the Aged to identify ways to tackle misperceptions about the risk of victimisation and also to educate the elderly as to the sensible precautions they can take to protect themselves. The Home Office are seeking to run a workshop at the Help the Aged annual conference in October during which these issues will be addressed; solutions identified will be incorporated into the Home Office strategy for reducing the fear of crime.