HC Deb 17 September 2004 vol 424 cc1909-10W
Mr. Ruffley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of(a) antisocial behaviour and (b) alcohol-related crime there have been in each of the last seven years in (i) the Suffolk constabulary, (ii) the western area of the Suffolk constabulary and (iii) the eastern area of the Suffolk constabulary. [187191]

Ms Blears

There is currently no data on the number of incidents of Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) due to the subjective nature of ASB itself. The latest data collected on ASB relate to the public perception of ASB in England and Wales and is measured by the British Crime Survey (BCS). Our Anti Social Behaviour strategy is aiming to reduce people's perception of anti social behaviour, as measured by the British Crime Survey (using a measure combining seven strands of anti social behaviour) by 2005–06 against the 2001–02 baseline. Latest figures show that the overall level of perceived ASB has fallen. The proportion of people estimated to perceive a high level of disorder in their local area fell from 19 per cent. to 16 per cent. between 2001–02 and 2003–04.

BCS data show that nearly half of victims of violent crime thought that their attacker was under the influence of alcohol. However, because alcohol-related incidents are not a recorded crime category, we are unable to reliably measure them.

This summer, the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers jointly ran an Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign. This campaign saw 92 Basic Command Units participating in concerted activity with partners to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence and disorder. Ipswich was one of these participating BCUs. Results from-this campaign show that, in these 92 areas across eight weekends, there were over 1,000 arrests per week for alcohol-related offences.