HC Deb 28 March 1983 vol 40 cc3-5W
Mr. Clinton Davis

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set up an independent public inquiry into violent crime and its causes and treatment within the Metropolitan police district.

Mr. Proctor

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will hold a public inquiry into the increases in offences of robbery and other violent theft committed by coloured people in the Metropolitan police districts; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Whitelaw

I am not persuaded that such an inquiry would make a useful contribution to the formulation of policy in tackling violent crime.

Mr. Proctor

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to collect statistics on a yearly basis of those persons arrested, prosecuted and convicted for offences of robbery and other violent theft by each police district in Metropolitan London and by ethnic appearance; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Mayhew

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis already collects certain statistics of this kind. We are arranging for the readily available information to be included in a reply to a question by my hon. Friend to be answered later this week.

Mr. Clinton Davis

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement as to the value and relevance to him of the information set out in the reply to the hon. Member for Basildon (Mr. Proctor) Official Report, 22 March, c. 366–368.

Mr. Mayhew

Details of the appearance of a suspect have to be collected in the course of the normal investigation of a recorded offence. The reliability of the victim's assessment of the ethnic appearance of an assailant will depend on the circumstances of the offence. This weakness must be borne in mind in the interpretation of any statistics based on this information, but these statistics give the best information which is available on a matter of current public concern. It is our practice to give information in reply to questions by hon. Members when it is readily available and can be provided without disproportionate cost.

Mr. Proctor

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will give figures for the number of offences of assault, robbery and other violent theft in the Metropolitan London police districts in 1980, 1981 and 1982 with a breakdown of the ethnic appearance of assailant;

(2) if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the ethnic appearance of victims of recorded offences of robbery and other violent theft for each Metropolitan police district and in total in 1982 for the following categories where the victim's perception of the appearance of assailant was (a) white, (b) coloured, (c) mixed gang (d) unknown; if he will tabulate the comparative figures for 1981; and if he will show the percentage change between 1981 and 1982;

(3) if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the ethnic breakdown of the victims of recorded offences of robbery and other violent theft for each Metropolitan police district and in total in 1982; if he will tabulate the comparable figures for 1981; and if he will show the percentage change between 1981 and 1982 in each case.

Mr. Mayhew

We understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the readily available information is as given in the following tables and in the reply I gave today to a question from the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North-East (Mrs. Short). We are arranging with the Commissioner for a systematic analysis of the ethnic information for the Metropolitan police district for all types of offence to be published in due course.

Table 1
Offences recorded in the Metropolitan Police offence groups of

'Assaults, etc.' and 'Robbery and other violent theft'

Metropolitan Police District
Offence and year Total* Victim's assessment of ethnic appearance of assailant
White Coloured Mixed gang Not known
Number of offences
Assaults, etc.
1977 13,378 5,234 2,212 242 5,690
1978 14,727 5,993 2,301 368 6,065
1979 16,425 6,830 2,442 371 6,782
1980 16,139 6,857 2,406 491 6,385
1981 16,282 7,212 2,657 273 6,140
1982 17,374 8,276 3,044 288 5,766
Robbery and other violent theft
1977 12,415 3,026 6,321 527 2,541
1978 12,180 2,969 6,027 910 2,274
1979 11,636 2,988 5,873 702 2,073
1980 13,984 3,830 7,067 818 2,269
1981 18,763 4,967 10,399 704 2,693
1982 19,258 5,262 10,960 534 2,502
Percentage of total offences
Assaults, etc.
1977 100 39 17 2 43
1978 100 41 16 2 41
1979 100 42 15 2 41
1980 100 42 15 3 40
1981 100 44 16 2 38
1982 100 48 18 2 33
Robbery and other violent theft
1977 100 24 51 4 20
1978 100 24 49 7 19
1979 100 26 50 6 18
1980 100 27 51 6 16
1981 100 26 55 4 14
1982 100 27 57 3 13
* Percentages may not add to 100 because they have been been rounded independently.

Table 2
Recorded offences of robbery and other violent theft
Metropolitan Police District Percentages
Ethnic appearance Victim's perception of ethnic
of victim Total* appearance of assailant
White Coloured Mixed gang Not known
1981
White-skinned European 78 76 78 76 81
Black-skinned 4 3 4 3 3
Indian/Pakistani 11 11 11 11 9
Dark-skinned European 5 4 5 6 4
Other 2 1 2 2 2
Unknown 2 4 1 2 1
Total 100 100 100 100 100
1982
White-skinned European 77 76 77 76 82
Black-skinned 4 3 5 4 4
Indian/Pakistani 11 13 11 10 8
Dark-skinned European 4 4 5 4 3
Other 2 1 2 1 2
Unknown 2 3 1 4 1
Total 100 100 100 100 100
* Percentages may not add to 100 because they have been rounded independently.