§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give for the longest and most convenient stated period of time the total number of crimes reported in the London borough of Newham, what crimes there were, how many of those alleged to have been responsible have been arrested and charged; how many of those charged have been found guilty and what action is to be taken to improve the prevention of crime in this area.
§ Mr. MayhewFor the latest information on serious offences recorded by the police in the London borough of Newham I refer the hon. Member to the replies given to his questions on 18 January and 17 March. We understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the only other statistical information readily available relates to offences cleared up and this is given in the following table. Action to prevent crime in the area, other than police patrols, includes crime prevention publicity, youth involvement schemes and advice to victims of crime.
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Serious offences cleared up in the London borough of Newham by Commissioner's office classification groups 1979–81 1979 1980* 1981* Assault 357 376 303 Robbery and other violent theft 71 56 95 Burglary† 447 439 587 Autocrime 589 657 606 Other theft and handling 1,254 1,298 1,343 Fraud and forgery 400 537 647‡ Criminal damage and miscellaneous 436 459 445 Total 3,554 3,822 4,026 * Figures for 1980 and 1981 are not precisely comparable with those for 1979 because of changes made by new counting rules which were introduced at the beginning of 1980. † Excludes burglaries involving violence. ‡ Excludes cheque fraud offences which are recorded and investigated centrally in the MPD.