Liberal Democrats slam government as 73% of burglary cases go unsolved in Oldham Borough
New data uncovered by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that a staggering 73% of burglary cases across Oldham went unsolved in 2023, up 7% on 2022. The party have called for a new ‘police response guarantee’ to ensure all domestic burglaries are attended by a police officer and properly investigated.
Leader of Oldham Liberal Democrats councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “People have lost faith in both the Conservatives and Labour over crime and policing. Empty promises come and go with each passing Prime Minister, but the lack of frontline policing stays the same.”
“The Liberal Democrats would deliver a Burglary Response Guarantee, to ensure that police attend and properly investigate every incident of domestic burglary. This is hardly radical; it’s what people expect and deserve. People are sick of seeing the community plagued by crime. We need to kick out this failed government and start getting a grip on basic policing.”
The guarantee will appear in the Liberal Democrat Manifesto for the general election. The party is also calling for a new online crime agency to better protect people against fraud and scams.
Councillor Sykes said, “Unfortunately, online fraudsters and scammers are becoming increasingly common. People need protection from this sort of crime, and they deserve support if they are a victim. But this can be provided by specialist officers and staff, meaning that frontline officers can be kept free to tackle crime on the streets, like the worrying rise in unsolved burglaries we are currently seeing.”
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) released a report in 2022 that said that most victims of burglary were “not getting the justice they deserve.”
More from Oldham Liberal Democrats on policing and crime
Greater Manchester Police taking nearly 16 hours to attend burglary calls – Howard Sykes (mycouncillor.org.uk)
The data was uncovered in an FOI request to all police forces in England and Wales.
33 of 43 police forces across England and Wales provided full responses with data provided for 329 local areas.
Their responses, which can be accessed here, provided the following data:
How many burglary cases were recorded, broken down by Local Policing Area, in the following calendar years: 2023, 2022 and 2021.
How many of those cases were closed without a suspect being identified, also broken down by Local Policing Area, in the following calendar years: 2023, 2022 and 2021.
The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new statutory guarantee that all domestic burglaries must be attended by the police and properly investigated.
To implement this guarantee, we are calling on the Government to:
Return to proper community policing, where officers have the time and resources, they need to focus on preventing and solving crime;
Urgently draw up a strategy to tackle the shortage of detectives;
Set up a new national Online Crime Agency, to better protect people from online crime while freeing up local forces’ time to tackle burglars.