Tories’ ‘shameful lack of leadership’ sees crime at record high as number of charges fall

Knife crime, theft and domestic abuse have all increased in the 12 months to March

Police forces in England and Wales have recorded the highest number of crimes in 20 years, driven by a sharp rise in offences including fraud, rape and violent attacks (Alamy/PA)

Police-recorded crimes have hit a new 20-year high in England and Wales but the number of resulting charges has plummeted, which Labour has blamed on a “shameful lack of leadership from the Conservatives on law and order”.

Driven by a sharp rise in offences including fraud, rape and violent attacks, a total of 6.3 million crimes were recorded in the year to March 2022 – per cent higher than the previous all-time high of 6.1 million in 2019/20.

It is also up 16 per cent on 2020/21, when crime levels were affected by Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Meanwhile, separate figures published on Thursday by the Home Office show that just 5.6 per cent of offences in England and Wales in 2021/22 – around one in 18 – resulted in a charge or court summons, down from 7.1 per cent, or one in 14, in 2020/21.

The crime figures, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show knife crime, theft and domestic abuse all increased in the 12 months to March.

(PA Graphics) (PA Graphics)

Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s shadow home secretary, said the “shocking reality behind today’s figures” was the “many more victims” of crime being “let down under the Conservatives.”

She added: “Across the country, people are sick and tired of nothing being done. The shameful lack of leadership from the Conservatives on law and order over 12 years has done deep damage to policing and the criminal justice system, but it is victims and communities who are paying the price.

“Labour would bring back neighbourhood policing and stand up for law and order so people can feel safe on our streets.”

Police-recorded offences of fraud and computer misuse have risen 17 per cent, from 828,364 in 2020/21 to 965,162 in 2021/22.

Knife crime rose by 10 per cent to 49,027 offences in the year to March, compared to 44,642 in the previous 12 months – though this is below the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20, which saw 55,078 offences.

Various types of police-recorded crime are now at their highest level since current records began in 2002/03, including the number of rape offences (70,330 in 2021/22), all sexual offences (194,683), stalking and harassment offences (722,574), and all violence against the person offences (2.1 million).

There were 909,504 domestic abused-related offences recorded in 2021/22, up 8 per cent on 2020/21 and up 12 per cent on the pre-pandemic year.

Some of this increase may reflect improvements seen in reporting over the past few years.

(PA Graphics) (PA Graphics)

Responding to the figures, Diana Fawcett, chief executive at the charity Victim Support, said: “Record rises in crime levels are always worrying – behind these statistics are real people, and being a victim of any crime can have a devastating and long-lasting impact.

“Regardless of the reason for the increase, this huge rise in recorded crime coincides with victims across the country facing agonisingly long waits for trial.

“With the highest number of cases for 20 years coming into the criminal justice system, we need urgent action to address the backlog of cases, to ensure that those who’ve had the courage to report a crime get the justice they deserve.”

Billy Gazard of the ONS said: “Sexual offences recorded by the police were at the highest level recorded within a 12-month period in the year ending March 2022, a 32 per cent increase from the previous year.

“These changes may reflect a number of factors including the impact of high-profile cases and campaigns on victims’ willingness to report incidents.”

The number of sex offences recorded by forces in England and Wales has more than doubled in the past seven years, from 88,576 in 2014/15 to 194,683 in 2021/22.

Rape offences have nearly doubled in the past six years, from 36,320 in 2015/16 to 70,330 in the year to March.

While theft offences jumped by 15 per cent to 1.5 million in 2021/22, this is still below pre-pandemic levels, when the number topped two million.

Many subcategories of theft saw an increase in the latest figures, though this follows a sharp drop in 2020/21 when levels were affected by Covid-19 lockdowns.

Meanwhile, the charge rate has been on a downwards trend for several years and now stands at around a third of the level in 2014/15, when it was 15.5 per cent.

The proportion of offences that had not been assigned an outcome by police forces at the time of reporting rose from 7.8 per cent in 2020/21 to 11.7 per cent in 2021/22.

The figure stood at 7.3 per cent in 2014/15.

The Home Office said these trends “are likely to reflect, in part, improved crime recording processes as well as a more complex crime caseload being dealt with by the police, with the rise in violence against the person and sexual offences”.

Data from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) shows there were 1,733 rape convictions in England and Wales in 2021/22, up from 1,109 in 2021/21 and also above the 1,439 in the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20.

The conviction rate for rape cases stood at 68.3 per cent in the year to March 2022, down from 71.2 per cent in 2020/21 but broadly unchanged from 68.5 per cent in 2019/20.

The number of rape suspects charged increased from 1,955 in 2020/2021 to 2,223 in 2021/2022, a rise of 14 per cent.

Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill QC, and Chief Constable Sarah Crew, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for rape and adult sexual offences, said: “Rape is a devastating offence and we are committed to improving every aspect of how these life-changing crimes are dealt with.

“Close joint working from the very start of an investigation means we can build the best possible cases more quickly.

“With police going to the CPS earlier in the process and more often, the rise in charging decisions will lead to more trials and more convictions.

“Early advice in these cases has been key in helping us use our joint resources more effectively and narrow the gap between the number of offences reported to the police and cases going to court.”

Additional reporting from PA.