Burglary

(asked on 19th February 2024) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional resources to Police and Crime Commissioners to help tackle (a) the use of blowtorches in and (b) other methods of home burglaries.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 27th February 2024

The Crime Survey for England and Wales data shows a 56% fall in domestic burglaries when comparing the year ending September 2023 with year ending March 2010. This is clearly good news; however, we recognise the impact domestic burglary can have on individuals and communities and we are committed to tackling and preventing this crime.

The public rightly expects that the police will visit them when a home burglary has been committed, which is why we welcome the announcement made by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) on 8 June that all 43 police forces in England and Wales have been implementing this attendance policy since March 2023. We are working with police leaders to ensure forces are making their attendance data available to the public. https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/police-now-attending-scene-of-every-home-burglary.

The police attendance commitment, along with the commitment to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry, is supported by College of Policing guidance on conducting residential burglary investigations: https://www.college.police.uk/guidance/residential-burglary. This sets out the importance of the police accurately identifying the point and method of entry to a victim’s property. Forces will share this information with Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (PCPI), which works with manufacturers, the construction industry and standards authorities to ensure security standards keep pace with emerging crime trends. https://www.policecpi.com/about-us.

We are putting in place record funding for the police in England and Wales with up to £18.4bn in 2024/25, and funding for Police and Crime Commissioners is increasing by up to £922 million in 2024/25.

The Home Office has not made a specific assessment of the use of blowtorches to gain access to properties.

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