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Home Office

Answer

Paddy Ashdown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the incidence of crime in (a) rural and (b) urban areas since May 1997. [144618] Mr. Charles Clarke: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the reply given to the question by the hon. Member for South Suffolk (Mr. Yeo) on 9 November 2000, Official Report, column 404W, and to the reply given to the question by my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Mr. Levitt) on 13 November 2000, Official Report, column 538W. The replies to these questions provide information derived from the British Crime Survey (BCS) on the level and trends in rural and urban crime. BCS incident rates for crime show that over the last decade there has been consistently less crime in rural areas than urban areas. The BCS also shows that between 1997 and 1999 crime has declined, in proportionate terms, at a similar or greater rate in rural areas than in other areas. BCS incident rates 1991-99 for burglary, vehicle-related thefts and violent crime _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 Burglary incidents per 10,000 households Rural 368 481 468 429 343 Non-rural 781 976 938 859 662 Vehicle-related thefts per 10,000 vehicle owning households Rural 1,660 1,983 2,052 1,503 1,207 Non-rural 2,912 3,152 3,006 2,368 1,947 Violent crime incident rates per 10,000 adults Rural 396 511 621 597 462 Non-rural 739 1,017 1,108 887 876 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Notes: For the purposes of BCS analyses, rural areas are identified by according ACORN--(A Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods) categories. ACORN classifies households according to the demographic, employment and housing characteristics of the surrounding neighbourhood. Rural areas are defined as those areas falling into Acorn types 1 to 9, and 27. Source: British Crime Survey 1992-2000. Tackling crime and the fear of crime in all areas, including rural areas, remains a high priority for this Government. Our approach in all areas is to assist the police and the local crime and disorder partnerships to address local crime effectively. The Home Office announced on 15 June 2000 that rural police forces were to benefit this year from an additional £15 million from the police modernisation fund. The money rises to £30 million next year, and is intended to help the police to meet the extra costs involved in policing rural areas. The money is in addition to the crime fighting fund, which is providing for an increase in police numbers across the board. It will make a real difference to the policing and crime reduction in rural districts, in particular by helping to increase the visibility of the police in those areas.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

361 c367-8W; 144618

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Crime Finance Police Rural areas Urban areas Crime and disorder reduction partnerships British Crime Survey Police Modernisation Fund

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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