Shocking figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats show that 69% of car thefts in Greater Manchester went unsolved in 2022.  The figures were branded “shocking” by Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE. 

Councillor Sykes said, “People in Oldham and across Greater Manchester are told the same thing by Conservative and Labour politicians alike.  They say they are putting more police on the streets and more resources into tackling crime.  But the reality is, criminals are getting away with making our streets less safe.”

Across England and Wales, just 1 in 30 incidents of car theft resulted in a suspect being charged in 2022.  Previous research conducted by the Liberal Democrats shows that police failed to even attend three out of four car thefts in the same year. 

Councillor Sykes said, “The government has run police forces into the ground.  Greater Manchester Police was taken out of special measures in October 2022.  These figures from the same year show that nothing much has improved.”

“People expect and deserve a police force that can properly investigate crimes and bring charges against criminals, but right now, people in Oldham and across Greater Manchester can’t even be sure that the police will show up.”

NOTES

Full analysis including a breakdown by force is available here. 
Data taken from Home Office: Police recorded crime outcomes open data tables
Previous research on police attendance for car thefts is available here. This data was uncovered by an FOI to all 45 police forces in the UK.