Worse Than When They Started

David Green, 20 December 2004

Perhaps unwisely, David Blunkett , said that Jack Straw left the Home Office in a mess. The Government has placed great emphasis on its Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets. According to the Treasury, they ‘have become increasingly outcome-focused’, and are now supported by ‘rigorous performance information’. (Spending Review 2004.)
However, in two cases, performance has got worse: fewer offenders are being brought to justice and the number of robberies has gone up.
The baseline for robbery is police-recorded offences in 1999-2000: 68,782 crimes in the ten street crime initiative areas. The target is a reduction in those areas of 14% to 59,153 crimes. The Autumn Performance Report for 2003 honestly reports that, in 2002-03 the police recorded 83,661 robberies in the ten areas, an increase of 22%.
The Home Office Departmental Report 2004 does not give the total number of robberies, merely saying there was a 17% reduction from 2001-02 to 2002-03 and that further ‘substantial reductions’ had been made in 2003-04. The Autumn Performance Report 2004, however, shows that there were 76,776 robberies, an increase of 12% and still 30% adrift of the target.
In addition, there is evidence of a displacement effect from the ten street crime areas. Robberies increased 12% in those areas, but rose 20% in the whole country (from 84,277 to 101,095). (Crime in England and Wales 2003/04, Table 2.04.)