Jack Straw on the National Victims' Service
continued from page 4
"The impact of these changes has been dramatic. According to the Witness and Victim Experience Survey ('WAVES'), 90% of victims and witnesses now say they are satisfied with the way they are treated by criminal justice staff – an all time high. Of course that statistic doesn't show the whole picture, because the survey doesn't cover all types of victims.
"For example, it does not cover victims of domestic or sexual violence, as the interviews are conducted by telephone and we would not want to risk re-traumatising sensitive victims. Nonetheless, this is remarkable progress. More witnesses are now choosing to attend court (87% in 2008-09) and 22,000 fewer cases fail than just five years ago because the witness doesn't turn up."
"But for all the improvements to their treatment, a victim of crime is no less a victim. There is no magic cure for the mental wounds, even if physical injuries heal with time. Ultimately, the best service we can provide is one which prevents people becoming victims in the first place, by reducing crime."
"We have done just that. Most people don't believe that crime is falling, but as I indicated earlier, we have seen the most substantial and sustained reduction since the War. According to the British Crime Survey – the most reliable measure – overall crime is down 36% since 1997. Violent crime is down 41%. The chances of being a victim are now the lowest since accurate recording began more than 25 years ago. This means 4 million fewer victims of crime in 2008 than there were in 1998."
"Adult re-offending has fallen by 20% and youth re-offending by nearly a quarter. Many more offences are now being brought to justice – a total of nearly 1.4 million in the year to June 2009."
"Last Thursday the recorded crime figures for the quarter from July to September 2009 were published. They showed an 8% drop in the crime rate [compared with the same quarter last year], with a 4% drop in violence against the person, a 20% fall in car crime, a 9% fall in robberies, and an 8% fall in burglaries."
"This is doubly good news, because the trend further defied those academics who for decades have claimed, wrongly, that there is not much that can be done about crime levels, and that crime would rise in the recession."
"These figures are robust, independently verified by National Statistics. You'd have thought this good news would have been of interest to the readers of all newspapers – regardless of their politics. However, it was scarcely mentioned in a number of national papers. How different it would have been if recorded crime had gone up 8%, and not down."
Continued on page 6