§ Sir Anthony Grantasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he is aware of into the relationship between the level of unemployment and the incidence of violent crime; and if he will publish any statistical analysis he has received concerning such a relationship in the Official Report.
§ Mr. MellorI am not aware of any research—in this country at least—into the relationship between the level of unemployment and the incidence of violent crime. Various studies examining the relationship between the level of unemployment and recorded crime in all categories were reviewed in an article in Home Office research bulletin No. 14, published in 1982, a copy of which is in the Library of the House. In short, the article reported that more studies found no evidence of a significant relationship between the level of unemployment and crime than found some evidence of such a relationship.