Staggering £250 BILLION crime bill revealed as Labour urged to take drastic action

Crime costs Britain a staggering £250 billion every year, a scathing report has revealed.

Ministers were last night warned a “permissive approach” was hammering the public finances, hitting businesses and changing society.

The Policy Exchange think tank said the UK spends around £170bn dealing with offences, with firms suffering a £38bn hit, the public sector a £31bn bill, and the cost to individuals totalling up to £63bn.

But once changes in behaviour are included, for example because people are too scared to go out, the bill could soar to £250bn.

Former Home Secretary Sir Sajid Javid said: “This excellent report takes a detailed look at the impact of crime on the prosperity of the UK.

“Its authors are public policy experts and economists, so naturally it tells the story of how our prospects for growth are held back through macroanalysis and numbers. But the effects of crime on you or I are more than academic.

“Criminals corrode the bonds that hold our country together. Their actions destroy trust in other people, trust in institutions and trust in government.

“And without trust, our police forces and the free market cannot function. A situation in which people believe that when they report a crime the police will not follow up and the perpetrator will not be brought to justice is not sustainable.

“Restoring that trust, and the rule of law on which prosperity relies, must be a priority for the government. Without it, our society will suffer. Our prospects for economic growth will suffer. And the costs of that will fall squarely on the British people.

“We can, and must, do better.”

Policy Exchange said justice chiefs should build an extra 53,000 prison places to lock up more offenders, costing £5bn.

And police chiefs with high levels of crime should be “held to account for delivering a relentless policing presence there”.

All “hyper-prolific” offenders, defined as someone with at least 45 previous convictions, should face two-year prison sentences every time they are caught committing another offence.

Senior managers within the Ministry of Justice and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service should also be sacked and replaced, the think tank suggested.

Policy Exchange added that “The Government should amend the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and the UK Borders Act 2007 to ensure that any foreign national convicted of a criminal offence should be subject to immediate deportation at the end of their sentence.

“For those sentenced to a community order or suspended sentence, deportation should be effective immediately on sentencing.”

Andrew Haldane CBE, former Chief Economist of the Bank of England, said: “Government statistics paint a benign picture of falling rates of crime. But beneath these official statistics lurks a murkier and more concerning danger: a veritable wave of crime sweeping across the UK’s streets, with shocking – if not entirely surprising – increases in various categories of crime ranging from shoplifting to stabbings, fraud to anti-social behaviour.

“We are approaching what will almost certainly be a brutal, and what could be an electorally-defining, public spending review.

“In an era of acute anxiety, this report is an arresting clarion – and wake-up – call to all political parties on the true and rising economic costs of crime and the societal consequences of continuing malign neglect of that most foundational of Government responsibilities – the security of citizens.”

Lord Davies of Gower, Shadow Home Office Minister and former senior police officer said: “This is an inspirational paper, which clearly spells out the scourge of criminality at all levels, together with the urgent need to address the failings of the criminal justice system over many years.

“The adoption of technological advancements, coupled with a fresh approach to senior police management and the efficient deployment of resources, is an absolute given and is long overdue.

“Overall, this is a refreshing and practical approach to what has become a blight on society but at a cost that must be met if we are serious about securing the safety of the public and reducing the fear of crime.”