Burglaries

Oral Answers to Questions — Home Office – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 7 March 2005.

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Photo of John Denham John Denham Chair, Home Affairs Committee 2:30, 7 March 2005

What estimate he has made of the number of burglaries in 2004 and 2005 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Photo of Caroline Flint Caroline Flint Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Figures for 2004–05 are not yet available. The most recent annual British crime survey data, which were published in July 2004, showed a 42 per cent. reduction in domestic burglary from 1997. The quarterly statistical update, which was published in January, reported that the number of domestic burglaries recorded by the police fell by 23 per cent. in the 12 months to September 2004.

Photo of John Denham John Denham Chair, Home Affairs Committee

I welcome those figures. On a constituency note, will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating Southampton police? Burglary figures for the past seven months were 36 per cent. below those for the previous seven months. That is a significant achievement. What is being done centrally to ensure that the lessons of good and effective policing practice, such as that in Southampton in the past six to seven months, are learned and shared in other parts of the country?

Photo of Caroline Flint Caroline Flint Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

I congratulate my right hon. Friend's police force on its success. As he knows, from 1999 to 2002 we had the reducing burglary initiative, whereby 63 projects examined what worked and what was value for money. He is right to say that we need to spread good practice, and we are doing that by providing information that is accessible to all police forces and others in the community on our website and through seminars. We can work on many different fronts in policing, reducing crime and targeting especially vulnerable groups such as older people and students. We are making progress on all those matters. Overall, it is pleasing that the number of burglaries, recorded or otherwise, is down.

Photo of Patrick Mercer Patrick Mercer Shadow Minister (Homeland Security), Home Affairs

The Minister will be aware that when I tried to introduce the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Householder Protection) Bill, a number of very senior police officers supported it, saying that it would deter burglary. Furthermore, convicted criminals, including the now infamous Brendan Fearon, said that it would have deterred them. Will the Minister explain why the Government continue to support the burglar rather than the householder, by opposing my Bill?

Photo of Caroline Flint Caroline Flint Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We certainly do not support the burglar. That is emphasised by the fact that the number of burglaries has gone down. We are getting a clear message across to the people who would enter our homes to steal from us that they will be caught and dealt with. We have looked at improvements in this area, including introducing a minimum sentence of three years for those convicted of domestic burglary for a third time. The reason why we did not support the hon. Gentleman's Bill is very simple: it became clear, after consultation with a wide group of people, that what was needed was to ensure that people understood the law as it stood. That goes both for the public and for the burglars.