Victims of crime are being repeatedly failed (Image: Getty)
Victims living in Britain’s worst crime hotspots are being “let down time and time again” by police who are failing to solve almost every reported violent or sexual offence, a minister has warned.
Nearly 1.9m in England and Wales were closed without a suspect being caught or charged in the year to June 2024 – about 89% of all offences given an outcome, official figures show.
Less than one in 10 cases were resolved in 611 neighbourhoods with the highest levels of these offences, as growing numbers of victims withdraw from investigations after losing faith in securing justice.
Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said: “It is completely unacceptable that fewer and fewer violent and sexual crimes are being solved, with more victims being let down time and time again.
“The severity of these numbers prove why violence against women and girls is a national emergency and that is why we have set out our unprecedented mission to halve it in a decade.”
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Warning – safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips (Image: Getty)
Only 11% of the violent and sexual offence cases in England and Wales were closed after a suspect was caught or charged in the year to June 2024, about half the proportion seven years earlier.
There were stark differences in the proportion of violent and sexual crimes going unsolved across the country, with big urban forces faring far worse than those parts of England and Wales with fewer offences.
probe found just 6.9% of violent or sexual crimes were solved in the West Midlands in the year ending in June, and 7% were solved in the Metropolitan police area, according to Home Office figures.That compares with 19.2% in Lancashire and 18% in Cumbria.
About 10% of such offences led to a charge or out-of-court outcome in Greater Manchester and Merseyside in the year to June, compared with about 17% in Cheshire, Durham and Humberside.
Violent and sexual crimes include offences such as grievous bodily harm, sexual assault, stalking, harassment and rape.
The leader of Britain’s police chiefs, Gavin Stephens, has conceded that victims face a “disparity” of policing across the country and backed calls for a “major shake-up” of how the country’s 43 forces operate.
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People living in crime hotspots fare worst (Image: Getty)
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has promised to end a “postcode lottery” of policing, and in November announced a new body that would coordinate functions such as forensics, IT and the use of drones and helicopters. More details are expected to be announced when a white paper is published in the coming weeks.
Helen Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, said people were now questioning whether to report even the most serious crimes as so many investigations end without justice.
Lady Newlove, whose husband Garry was killed by a gang of teenagers in 2007, said: “When reporting a crime, victims place their trust in the justice system to seek truth and deliver justice, knowing that their reports are taken seriously no matter who they are or where they live. Yet, too often, investigations are closed with no resolution, leaving victims feeling unheard and unsupported.
“Victim confidence in policing remains frail, with many questioning whether reporting a crime will lead to justice. It is up to police leaders to turn this around.”
Newlove has warned that victims are increasingly withdrawing from investigations as it takes years to bring perpetrators to court. As many as 60% of all rape investigations are closed before prosecution because the alleged victim no longer supports police action, up from 43% nine years earlier, according to official data. Separate CPS figures show the number of alleged rape victims pulling out of prosecutions before trial has more than doubled in five years. The average rape investigation takes 423 days – compared with 55 days for violence or 28 days for theft. The proportion of violent or sexual offence crimes solved rose slightly last year, to 11%, compared with 10% a year earlier. But solve rates remain lower than before the -19 pandemic: 16% were solved in 2018 and 13% the following year.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said it was vitally important that victims of crime felt able to contact police. It said there had been a cultural shift in the way police forces approached sexual offence investigations in the last two and a half years and that there had been a 38% increase in rape suspects being charged in the year to December 2023, compared with the previous year.
The NPCC added: “However, we have much more to do. Through listening to victims, we know that disadvantage, discrimination and contextual incompetence are still being felt. We are determined to make lasting positive change to better protect victims and hold more perpetrators to justice.”