(Harrow East) (Con): My
constituents in Stanmore are suffering a crisis of aggravated
burglaries. These are not normal burglaries where people break in
and steal things; these involve gangs of five or six people who
break in, beat up the residents and steal their possessions,
including their address books so that they can move on to the next
people. May we have a debate in Government time on how we deal with
that epidemic, and the crisis in our society of aggravated
burglaries in which people suffer not only the loss of their
possessions, but personal injury as well?
: I am genuinely
sorry to hear about the problems experienced by my hon. Friend’s
constituents, which are completely unacceptable, and I encourage
him to seek an Adjournment debate so that he can raise that
issue. I know from my constituency that the police are concerned
that sometimes residents do not report crimes—indeed, they would
want us to encourage our constituents always to report any crime
they experience, because so often that assists police to form a
picture of what is going on, and to get the intelligence that
enables them to make arrests. My hon. Friend will be aware that
the resources available to police during this funding period have
been increased, and it is for Police and Crime Commissioners to
make decisions on policing priorities. I am sure he is in contact
with his own police and crime commissioner.
(Leyton and Wanstead)
(Lab): I am pleased that we are due to have a debate on
youth violence next Thursday; we will see whether it actually
happens. I support the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman)
in calling for a debate on burglary. I have seen in my
constituency a rise in burglary and aggravated burglary. That is
not entirely unconnected with the fact that three police stations
have closed in my constituency. We do not have a single police
station, so that deterrent has completely disappeared. May we
have a debate on this?
: As I said to my
hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), I am very
sorry to hear of the ongoing problem of aggravated burglary in
the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. He will know that many of the
decisions around police station closures are to do with the
tendency of people to prefer to report crime via the telephone or
online. Nevertheless, it is absolutely vital that Police and
Crime Commissioners take the steps necessary to keep their
communities safe. I encourage him perhaps to raise this through
an Adjournment debate.
