Crime rate surging faster in rural areas than urban ones, as Labour promises new Rural Crime Strategy to keep communities safe

Labour has today (Tuesday) set out new plans for the first-ever Rural Crime Strategy to tackle the issues blighting communities outside of Britain's towns and cities.  

It comes as new research commissioned by the party from the House of Commons Library reveals that the crime rate in rural areas has surged by 32 per cent since 2011 - compared to 24 per cent for urban areas - with a total rise of almost 130,000 reported offences, including almost 30,000 more offences of criminal damage and arson.

This problem is particularly acute in areas controlled by Conservative PCCs. Over the past year alone, Tory-led North Yorkshire has witnessed:

• 20 per cent rise in possession of weapons offences
• 18 per cent rise in vehicle offences
• 15 per cent rise in theft offences.

The Shadow Home Secretary blasted the Conservative government for “abandoning rural communities and letting organised criminals operate with impunity” and alongside Labour leader Keir Starmer has today set out a new action plan to tackle rural crime, including:

• Launching the first ever government-backed Rural Crime Strategy, ensuring cross-government coordination between the Home Office, DEFRA and other departments, and work with the National Crime Agency to take down rural organised crime gangs
  
  
• Increasing police patrols in rural areas, as part of Labour's plans for 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs which will cover all communities and help free up response resource for rural policing
  
  
• Tougher measures to clamp down on antisocial behaviour, agricultural crime and drug dealing, with stronger laws to prevent GPS farm equipment theft, new powers to tackle livestock worrying, and requiring fly-tippers to clean up their own mess and local drug enforcement teams.

Across rural areas, confidence in the police has dropped by 10 percentage points over the last five years - mirroring a similar fall in victim satisfaction, with the proportion of victims happy with the service they received dropping from 67 per cent to 56 per cent. Confidence in the police is now lower in rural areas than in major urban centres.

Rural crimes are also increasingly going unpunished. Analysis from the BBC has found that suspects are almost 25 per cent more likely to be charged for crimes in urban areas than in the countryside - while last year, only nine per cent of thefts in Tory-led North Yorkshire resulted in formal action.

Meanwhile farming bodies have reported significant rises in rural crime, especially theft linked to organised crime groups. According to NFU Mutual, 80 per cent of members are reporting disruption to their activities from rural crime, and the total cost of rural crime has risen by 22.1 per cent over the last year to £49.5 million. The NFU also report that international trends have accelerated demand for stolen machinery. The total cost of claims linked to agricultural machinery has risen by 29 per cent, while the cost of claims linked to GPS theft has risen by 15 per cent.

Keir Starmer MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“Our countryside towns and villages are part of our national identity, but also home to millions. My Labour party knows the challenges they face, including crime rates surging faster than in urban areas,  with organised crime, rural theft and antisocial behaviour blighting communities.

“As Chief Prosecutor I got to know all corners of our country, and committed to delivering justice for people in all communities. With my changed Labour Party, Britain's rural communities will be protected with the first ever government-backed rural crime strategy. Increased patrols in rural areas, tougher measures to clamp down on antisocial behaviour and stronger laws to prevent farm theft, fly-tippers and local drug enforcement teams.

"This is why my government will be mission focused - with cross-government coordination between the Home Office, DEFRA and the National Crime Agency to tackle the challenges rural areas face.

“Labour will stamp out crime and disorder in our countryside communities and bring respect back to Britain.”

Yvette Cooper MP, Labour's Shadow Home Secretary, said:

“Our rural areas are the beautiful heart of Britain. But people need to feel safe.

“Across the country, the Conservatives are abandoning rural communities and letting organised criminals operate with impunity.

“Labour will crack down on these criminals, establishing a dedicated Rural Crime Strategy to restore order to our rural areas, backed up with tougher powers and increased rural police patrols. Labour will take action to keep our rural communities safe.”

Ends

Notes:

• Rise in recorded crime in North Yorkshire, year ending September 2023: Crime in England and Wales: Police Force Area data tables - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
• Rural and urban confidence in local police: Crime in England and Wales: Annual supplementary tables - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
• BBC analysis on rural charge rates: Tractors and crops targeted in rural crime wave - BBC News
• Crime outcome rate in North Yorkshire, year ending March 2023https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65aaa29b0ff90c000f955f05/prc-outcomes-open-data-mar2023-tables-250124.xlsx
• NFU Mutual report on rural crime Rural Crime Report 2023 - Download Free Report | NFU Mutual

Labour's plan to tackle rural crime:

First ever government-backed Rural Crime Strategy

• Labour is also pledging to establish the first ever government strategy to tackle rural crime - strengthening the existing NPCC plan by including specific commitments from across government departments, including DEFRA.
• This strategy would include new commitments from policing and local areas to improve the response to rural crime, and establish clear co-ordination between the different government departments in tackling issues ranging from fly-tipping to agricultural crime to police response.
• In addition, it would establish proper horizon scanning on likely future risks to farms (including those connected to global SOC trends), and lay out a detailed plan of action on how the NCA and ROCUs should work to dismantle the SOC groups behind organised acquisitive crime from rural settings.

Increasing police patrols in rural areas

• Through centralising procurement and increasing the use of shared services, Labour will free up sufficient investment to put 13,000 extra police and PCSOs into neighbourhood teams - tackling long-term cuts by the Conservatives which still have not been addressed
• Many of these neighbourhood teams will be based in rural areas, enhancing patrols to keep rural communities safe. They will also free up other team to concentrate on response work, ensuring that when rural crimes are reported the victim receives a swift and effective response.

Tougher measures to clamp down on antisocial behaviour, agricultural crime and drug dealing

Labour will introduce a series of reforms to strengthen the response to antisocial behaviour, including:

• New Fixed Penalty Cleaning Notices to ensure fly-tipping offenders have to clean up their own mess
• Court-issued Respect Orders for persistent adult offenders, banning individuals from target areas
• Local drug enforcement teams, patrolling local areas to gather intelligence and shut down known drug dealing sites
• Zero Tolerance Zones - fast-track Public Space Protection Orders to enable the authorities to quickly stop antisocial behaviour in its tracks.

Agricultural crime:

• New protection for GPS farm equipment by extending the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act. The Act places requirements on manufacturers of quad bikes and off-road vehicles to deter farm theft, including an obligation for immobilisers and security marking to be fitted. The NFU have warned that this must be extended to include GPS theft from farm vehicles - we will pledge to introduce this through secondary legislation, cutting off organised criminals' ability to quickly steal valuable devices from rural communities.
  
  
• If the bill has not yet received Royal Assent, we will also expedite the introduction of the measures in the Livestock Worrying Bill (proposed by Therese Coffey and currently before the House as a Private Members' Bill) - giving the police tougher powers to crack down on sheep worrying. This includes:

House of Commons Library research summary

Analysis of crime statistics supplied by the House of Commons Library reveals that between 2011 and 2023:

• In rural areas, the recorded crime rate increased from 35.56 offences per 1,000 residents to 47 - a 32% rise
• In urban areas, the recorded crime rate increased from 76.21 offences per 1,000 residents to 94.87 - a 24% rise.