Half of violent crimes 'unsolved'

The Tories say police are pursuing too many minor crimes

Fewer than half of violent crimes recorded in England and Wales last year were solved by the police, official figures have shown.

The Conservatives said news that the detection rate had fallen to 49% was a "real insult" to victims of crime.

The Home Office blamed the fact that police forces were no longer able to simply count a case as "solved" when no further action was taken.

It said fewer people than ever were being injured as a result of violence.

The detection figures for violence against the person were supplied by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to her shadow Dominic Grieve in a parliamentary answer on 22 October.

They show that recorded detection rates have fallen steadily for the past decade.

In 1998-99, the rate was 71%, dropping to 65% the following year and 58% by 2001-02. It eventually fell to 49% last year.

But the Home Office pointed out that a change in recording methods in April 2002 means that subsequent years are not directly comparable to those before that date.

'Red tape'

Mr Grieve told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: "It is bad enough that so much violent crime is being committed.

"It is a real insult to victims that over half of perpetrators are getting away with it.

We are always looking for new ways to further reduce bureaucracy Home Office spokeswoman

"This is a direct result of Labour's target culture, which has incentivised the police to pursue minor crimes over serious violent ones, and the reams of red tape that tie officers to their desks when the public wants them out on the street."

Mr Grieve spoke after a Home Office briefing paper, leaked last weekend, suggested that because police had been given incentives to tackle more minor offences in a bid to reduce crime figures, they were less able to combat violent incidents.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "Overall crime is down by 6% and fewer people are being injured as a result of violence.

"As demonstrated by the Policing Green Paper, we are always looking for new ways to further reduce bureaucracy - freeing up officers for frontline duties and building an even more efficient police service.

"The decline in the overall detection rate reflects a significant shift by many forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken."

Last month, the government was forced to admit that some police forces in England and Wales had been undercounting serious and violent crimes.

It meant that those offences actually rose by 22% compared to last year - rather than showing a fall as previous figures appeared to indicate.

The mistake happened when some crimes classed as "grievous bodily harm with intent" were recorded as less serious.