Brum named safest major city in UK

GANG shooting and knife crime hit the headlines each week – but Birmingham is the “safest” major city in the UK.

Although there is a serious issue with gang and drug-related violence in the city, new figures show that it has lower overall crime rates than other regional “capitals”.

The streets of Birmingham are rated safer than those of Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and others, it has been revealed.

And the city’s community safety chief has declared it a “significant achievement”.

The 2017/18 annual report of the Birmingham Community Safety Partnership, which includes the city council and West Midlands Police among other agencies, states that the total recorded crime in Birmingham compared to its population is “relatively low”

There were 97 crimes per 1,000 residents in the 12 months up to March 2018.

That means you have a one in 100 chance of becoming a victim of crime.

Birmingham is the best performing out of the “core cities”, which do not include London.

Brum is followed by Sheffield, then Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol, Nottingham and Newcastle.

Manchester had the highest crime rate, having seen a surge from around 105 incidents per 1,000 people in 2013 to around 200 per 1,000 residents last year.

All core cities experienced an increase in crime, although Birmingham again fared better than most with a yearly rise of 12 per cent – the second smallest after Liverpool.

Councillor Tristan Chatfield, community safety chief, says: “Birmingham remains the safest of the core cities, which is a good news message and perhaps isn’t widely known or recognised.

“Through the work of the police and the local partnership, through all the work that agencies are doing, Birmingham remains – while sadly the numbers have gone up – the safest major city in the UK, which is a significant achievement.”

The report also highlights how Birmingham is outperforming its big city rivals in other key areas in crime and social health.

The latest figures available for reoffending – up to June 2016 – reveal the city had the lowest rate both overall and for youth offenders.