§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department is taking to protect the elderly from fear of crime. [82974]
§ Mr. DenhamThe British Crime Survey data have consistently shown that older people are less likely to suffer from both household and personal crimes than other age groups. However, they also tells us that older people are greatly affected by fear of crime.
The Home Office is working closely to reduce fear of crime with record numbers of police on the streets, new community support officers and greater numbers of community and street wardens, in addition to its wide range of crime reduction programmes being delivered locally.
Levels of fear of crime among older people are still too high; we are committed to reducing them, and we have been working with charities such as Help The Aged and 584W Age Concern to find new and better ways of tackling fear of crime among seniors as well as crimes against them.