HC Deb 10 December 2001 vol 376 cc701-2W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for reducing the fear of crime. [17314]

Complaints received by the police
1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01
Avon and Somerset 976 1,035 852 871 845
Bedfordshire 217 247 161 207 194
Cambridgeshire 458 473 410 390 281
Cheshire 489 600 597 556 495
Cleveland 375 342 326 400 318
Cumbria -419 315 289 286 283
Derbyshire 384 443 400 421 298
Devon and Cornwall 760 911 798 645 704
Dorset 185 164 165 239 267
Durham 166 163 181 168 181
Essex 573 559 510 538 549
Gloucestershire 323 328 272 296 258
Greater Manchester 2,149 2,181 2,211 2,281 1,807
Hampshire 948 897 654 594 523
Hertfordshire 312 466 416 502 491
Humberside 431 444 425 410 364
Kent 657 675 624 678 620
Lancashire 886 848 850 918 682
Leicestershire 292 266 280 315 333
Lincolnshire 169 141 310 328 313
London City of 133 126 69 63 60
Merseyside 2,028 2,270 1,429 1,312 911
Metropolitan Police 9,122 8,037 7,154 6,611 5,830
Norfolk 423 519 326 433 365
Northamptonshire 294 331 256 212 221
Northumbria 650 671 629 668 661
North Yorkshire 370 343 363 441 441
Nottinghamshire 754 812 689 817 770
South Yorkshire 473 454 551 666 582
Staffordshire 587 598 511 629 803
Suffolk 287 308 268 374 229
Surrey 497 561 639 477 460
Sussex 864 1,076 1,153 1,734 1,814
Thames Valley 742 604 768 756 768

Mr. Denham

The target is to ensure that by 2004 levels of fear of crime in the key categories of violent crime, burglary and car crime are lower than in 2001. The measure is the British Crime Survey, and the 2001 survey provides us with a baseline against which to measure progress against this target. The 2001 baseline is: 22.3 per cent. of the population fear violent crime; 16.5 per cent. fear burglary and 18.5 per cent. fear car crime.

Tackling the fear of crime is critical to improving the quality of life for many. The British Crime Survey shows that fear of crime has been falling in the key crime categories over a number of years, although we know that some individuals, communities or groups may be more susceptible to fear than others. Our crime reduction programme aims to secure substantial reductions in the level of fear of crime by 2004, as we achieve real reductions in actual crime levels.