In October, the Office of National Statistics published the Crime Survey for England and Wales – which they termed “the best estimate of long-term trends in crime against the household population.” This showed that since 2010 overall levels of like-for-like crime are down by over 50%. Domestic burglary is down by 57% to its lowest level on record, violent crime (including any kind of weapon) is down by 52%. Earlier this year, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Andy Cooke, said that “England and Wales are arguably safer today than they have ever been.”
Of course that doesn’t mean that there isn’t further to go or that there aren’t persistent issues that require urgent attention: shoplifting being one example. But what it does show is that neighbourhood crimes, the crimes that undermine the fabric of communities and make people feel unsafe in their homes and on their local streets have fallen dramatically.
Part of this has been due to police numbers. As of March 2023, there were 149,566 police officers working in England and Wales. This is the highest number there has ever been. But it is not just the fact that there are more officers on the beat, but the way that they are deployed whether into neighbourhood policing or into specialist schemes into which they are trained, like Rape and Serious Sexual Offences.
Building on this record of public protection and community confidence was a key feature of last month’s Kings Speech with new laws announced for specifically this. First, the Sentencing Bill will see those convicted of the most serious offences (including violent murders where there is a sexual or sadistic element) receive a Whole Life Order without possibility of parole. This is a departure from the current law that usually requires multiple murders before a whole life tariff is considered. New clauses will also require rapists to serve every day of their sentence behind bars (a 30% increase on current sentence lengths), something that has been strongly endorsed by national police forces.
Our Criminal Justice Bill will take the fight to the criminals by cracking down on the tools of their trade. A ban on “SIM farms” used to perpetrate phone fraud, on specialist 3D printers used to produce firearms, and on pill-presses for the mass production of illegal drugs. Police powers will be extended to enable them to enter a property without a warrant where there is evidence to suggest it is housing stolen goods (for example, where a phone tracking device points to a stolen phone or laptop), and the power to seize, retain and destroy bladed articles found on a property if there is a reasonable belief they may be used in a further offence. The police will also be given a range of new tools to deal with anti-social behaviour building on the success of a ‘Hotspot Patrolling’ pilot that has shown excellent results across ten forces.
We are determined to thwart criminals’ latest techniques and build on our commitment to keep communities safe.