City street crimes down by 2,000 a month since April, claims Blunkett

David Blunkett released police figures yesterday showing that street crime had fallen by 14 per cent in urban areas since last April. But the announcement provoked criticism that the Home Office was not giving a true account of the number of offences.

The Home Secretary promised to extend a £67m police initiative started last April after Tony Blair promised that the problem would be "under control" by September.

Mr Blunkett announced interim figures showing that in 10 selected police force areas there were 2,000 fewer street crime offences in August than there had been in April. The shadow Home Secretary, Oliver Letwin, claimed in response that officials had been told to find evidence to support the Prime Minister's pledge.

"One can only feel sorry for the army of statisticians who have been engaged in trying to prove him right," Mr Letwin said. "What we have here is a welcome decrease across a highly selective period in a highly selective group of places. This is not the same as getting street crime under control."

Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, was also sceptical. "Recorded robberies doubled in Labour's first term," he said. "In comparison, modest decreases in street crime across the 10 target areas do not amount to much. It is not enough to produce interim figures four and a half months into a six-month initiative and claim that street crime is now 'under control'. The public will realise that the Government is pulling the wool over their eyes."

The crime reduction charity Nacro said the Home Office had published "a few snapshot figures". A spokesman said: "An informed debate on street crime needs to be based on all the figures being made public, not just highlights."

But Mr Blunkett said the initiative had "achieved a lot".

"I have made clear from the start the need for long-term sustainable reductions, and we will continue to work with all those involved to build on these early results," he said. "People working on the front line know they are getting results."

The charity Victim Support agreed there were "promising signs" in the figures but warned that the public still saw street crime as a "major problem".

Between April and August this year, nine of the 10 forces reported falls in street crime: Metropolitan Police, down 9 per cent; West Midlands, down 27 per cent; West Yorkshire, down 22 per cent; Greater Manchester, down 21 per cent; Merseyside, down 2 per cent; Avon and Somerset, down 20 per cent; South Yorkshire, down 25 per cent; Nottinghamshire, down 2 per cent; and Thames Valley, down 20 per cent. Only Lancashire recorded an increase, of 9 per cent.