HC Deb 22 April 2004 vol 420 cc590-1W
Mr. Watson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many car crimes there have been in each year since 1997; and how many resulted from the theft of car keys. [166836]

Ms Blears

The number of thefts of and thefts from vehicles (including cars, light vans, motorbikes and mopeds) since 1997 as measured by the British Crime Survey (BCS) are provided in the table.

Numbers of thefts of and thefts from vehicles 1997 to 2002–03 BCS interviews
Period Thefts of vehicles Thefts from vehicles
1997 370,000 2,157,000
1999 328,000 1,807,000
2001–02 interviews 315,000 1,491,000
2002–03 interviews 278,000 1,425,000

The BCS also provides the proportion of thefts of or from cars or light vans where entry into the vehicle involved the use of car keys (unlike for the numbers of offences above, these proportions do not include motorbikes or mopeds). The percentages from 1997 to 2001–02 are provided in the table.

Proportion of thefts of and thefts from cars/vans where the method of entry was with a key
Percentage
Period Thefts of vehicles Thefts from vehicles
1997 7 4
1999 8 1
2001–02 interviews 12 2