HC Deb 24 February 2003 vol 400 cc313-4W
19. Mr. Ben Chapman

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on recent measures to combat street crime. [98777]

Mr. Denham

The Street Crime Initiative was launched in April 2002 in the 10 police force areas with the highest rates of recorded robbery during 2001–02. Its key aims are to increase the detection rate for street crime cases, increase the proportion of offenders charged and brought to justice, and speed up the process between arrest and sentence.

This practical and partnership driven approach from the Government, police and other agencies had, by the end of September 2002, reduced the overall number of street crime offences by 16 per cent since its inception. At the end of last September: robbery, the more violent street crime offence, was down 25 per cent compared to the month immediately preceding the start of the initiative.