§ Mr. Nigel EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the levels of street crime in Lancashire. [77635]
§ Mr. DenhamLancashire is one of the 10 areas involved in the Government's street crime initiative, which was announced on 17 March 2002.
We published street crime figures on 14 October 2002 charting progress under the initiative to the end of September. There are two indicators of progress: a comparison with the period immediately before the initiative began, and a direct comparison with the same period last year.
In Lancashire, there was a 20 per cent reduction in street crime offences (robbery and snatch theft) between April and September 2002. For robbery, the more serious offence, figures showed 15 per cent fewer offences in September compared to March, the month preceding the initiative.
116WYear on year comparisons show an 11 per cent reduction in the number of robberies in Lancashire in the six months from April to September 2002, compared to the same period last year.
Published figures for the first six months of the initiative, including a document detailing the achievements made through the initiative's partnership work, can be found in the Library or on the Crime Reduction website atwww.crimereduction.gov.uk/streetcrime.