The latest crime statistics bulletin for England and Wales was published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - Crime in England and Wales, year ending September 2013). The bulletin reports two independent measures of crime – police recorded crime and the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which is based on victims’ experiences rather than police figures. Both measures show that crime has fallen by more than 10 per cent under this Government and are yet further evidence that our police reforms are working.
Karen said:
"Today’s ONS bulletin shows that since 2010, overall police recorded crime has fallen by 21 per cent in Staffordshire. I am grateful to every police officer and all the support staff in our area for all their hard work. They are doing a very difficult job but are delivering great results. It's particularly impressive as it demonstrates that our local police continue to rise to the challenge of delivering savings while cutting crime and delivering a better service to us all.
The ONS bulletin makes clear that:
• since 2010, overall police recorded crime has fallen by 13 per cent (year ending June 2010 cf. year ending September 2013)
• since 2010, overall crime according to the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales has fallen by 16 per cent (year ending June 2010 cf. year ending September 2013)
• over the last year, the CSEW estimate of the level of overall crime is down 10 per cent, to the lowest level since the survey began in 1981.
Karen added: "Under the Labour Government the police were getting bogged down in too much paperwork, often leaving the victims of crime second and cases not dealt with - that had to change. "This Coalition Government has a clear plan to set police free to fight crime. We have cut red tape and given police just one simple target: cut crime. I think these figures show that the changes are working and I will be looking for the Government continue to make sure that we protect people who do the right thing, so they can feel safe on the streets."