§ Mr. Bill O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress with reducing(a) crime affecting older people and (b) the fear of crime among older people. [75313]
§ Mr. WillsCrime against the elderly is horrifying, but is thankfully uncommon; levels fell by 20 per cent. between British Crime Survey (BCS) 1996 and BCS 2000, and older people are on average only a sixth as likely as the young to suffer a personal crime. We are making special efforts to reduce the chances still further, and in particular we have developed and implemented a strategy to clamp down on the despicable crime of distraction burglary. Levels of fear of crime among older people are still too high; we are committed to reducing them, and we are working with charities such as Help The Aged to find new and better ways of tackling fear of crime among seniors as well as crimes against them.