§ Mr. GrieveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences of robbery there were in each police force area in(a)1998–99 and (b)2000–01; what the percentage change between the two periods was; and if he will make a statement. [29623]
§ Mr. DenhamThe requested information is given in the table.
We are determined to reduce the number of robberies across the country as a whole. That is why we have given five metropolitan forces, including the Metropolitan police, an additional £20 million specifically to assist their efforts in tackling robbery, and have set them the challenging target of a 14 per cent. reduction of robbery in our principal cities by March 2005. We are working with those forces, as well as progressing an extensive robbery research programme, to enable us to identify good practice in tackling robbery which we will ensure is disseminated to all forces.
A research study, "Mobile phone theft" (by Victoria Harrington and Pat Mayhew, Home Office Research Study 235) has recently been published. Based on data from those forces which noted whether a recorded robbery involved a mobile phone, the study shows that there was an increase in the proportion of robberies involving mobile phones, from about 8 per cent. in 1998–99 to about 28 per cent. in 2000–01. Also, from robberies in four police Basic Command Units in the first quarter of 2001, the study estimated that in 23 per cent. of mobile phone robberies, victims were using their phone or had it on display.
We are working with the police and the mobile phone industry to reduce mobile phone robbery, undertaking public awareness campaigns and joint tracking exercises. The phone operators are testing ways of putting stolen phones out of action. They have also agreed to improve security as they invest in new systems. We are pressing the handset manufacturers for similar commitments.
A start has been made, but more needs to be done before Britain's mobile phone system can lead the world in security. The mobile phone industry needs to show more interest in the security of phones they are selling to British consumers and, as the motor industry has done, do more to prevent their customers from becoming the victims of crime.
335W
Robberies recorded by the police Year ending: Police force March 1999 March 2001 Percentage change Avon and Somerset 1,831 2,765 51 Bedfordshire 530 663 25 Cambridgeshire 437 539 23 Cheshire 397 486 22 Cleveland 908 932 3 Cumbria 119 94 -21 Derbyshire 504 773 53 Devon and Cornwall 462 452 -2 Dorset 205 309 51 Durham 172 231 34 Essex 523 700 122 Gloucestershire 273 363 33 Greater Manchester 7,632 9,918 30 Hampshire 588 794 35 Hertfordshire 250 508 164 Humberside 839 999 19 Kent 712 1,000 40 Lancashire 982 1,224 25 Leicestershire 967 1,067 10 Lincolnshire 149 191 28 London City of 29 53 83 Merseyside 2,484 2,405 -3 Metropolitan Police 26,330 40,992 157 Norfolk 220 330 50 Northamptonshire 443 604 36 Northumbria 1,347 1,381 3 North Yorkshire 170 186 9 Nottinghamshire 1,312 2,050 56 South Yorkshire 979 1,438 47 Staffordshire 509 796 56 Suffolk 140 177 26 Surrey 171 456 164 Sussex 939 1,241 32 Thames Valley 1,327 2,147 62 Warwickshire 170 252 48 West Mercia 351 423 21 West Midlands 7,315 11,351 55 West Yorkshire 3,072 3,781 23 Wiltshire 195 193 -1 Dyfed-Powys 42 23 -45 Gwent 173 244 41 North Wales 127 163 28 South Wales 511 460 -10 England and Wales 66,836 95,154 42 1There was a boundary change between the Metropolitan police and Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey on 1 April 2000. the percentage change given for these forces is an estimate of the change which would have occurred had their boundaries remained constant during this period.