Labour assaults ‘abysmal’ figures exhibiting simply 5.7% of crimes solved final yr
Labour has known as it a “national scandal” that solely 5.7% of crimes have been solved final yr after 2.3 million instances have been dropped and not using a suspect being discovered.
The Home Office determine for England and Wales covers the 12 months from April 2022 and is a small enchancment on the yr earlier than.
The 5.7% represents the proportion of crimes that resulted in a cost or court docket summons.
For intercourse offences, the cost charge was 3.6% – and simply 2.1% for rape; whereas solely 6.5% of robberies ended with a suspect being charged.
Shadow dwelling secretary Yvette Cooper mentioned Labour would guarantee extra crimes are solved if it wins energy, in addition to making police forces recruit extra detectives to reverse a nationwide scarcity.
She mentioned candidates could be introduced in from sectors similar to baby safety and enterprise fraud investigations.
Ms Cooper accused the Tories of getting an “abysmal” report on regulation and order because the figures confirmed greater than 90% of crimes have been going unsolved.
“For some serious crimes, like rape and robbery, the charge rate is now so low it constitutes a national scandal,” she mentioned.
“For far too long in this country, too many crimes have been committed without any consequences. Victims increasingly feel like no-one comes and nothing is done. Labour is determined this has to change.”
A Home Office spokeswoman mentioned communities have been safer than when it got here to energy 13 years in the past, with “neighbourhood crimes including burglary, robbery and theft down 51% and serious violent crime down 46%”.
“The government has delivered more police officers than ever in England and Wales and the home secretary expects police to improve public confidence by getting the basics right – catching more criminals and delivering justice for victims,” mentioned the spokeswoman.
“As part of the Beating Crime Plan, we have also committed to giving every single person in England and Wales access to the police digitally through a national online platform.”
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Policing minister Chris Philp claimed Labour have been “soft on crime and soft on criminals” and claimed “where Labour are in power, crime is over a third higher than Conservative-run areas”.
“Under the Conservatives, adult rape convictions have increased by two thirds over the last year, dangerous criminals are being locked up for longer, and there are now over 20,000 new police officers helping to keep our streets safe,” mentioned Mr Philp.