‘Asleep at the wheel’ on crime

LWOKINGHAM’S Liberal Democrats have accused the Conservatives of being “asleep at the wheel” of tackling community crime.

The comments come after Home Office data revealed that only 4% of domestic burglaries in the Thames Valley resulted in a criminal charge or summons in the first three quarters of 2022.

In the same time period, 2,359 burglaries went unsolved, amounting to 69% of all burglaries in the Thames valley.

Cllr Clive Jones, leader of Wokingham Borough Council and the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Wokingham, described the statistics as “terrifying”.

He said: “This Conservative Government’s inaction has led to thousands of burglars getting away with it – and thousands of families waiting endlessly for justice that may never arrive.”

“Everyone deserves to feel safe in their homes. The government must make that possible by giving police forces the officers, time and resources they need to tackle domestic burglaries.”

“To do this, Conservative ministers must finally recruit the extra 20,000 police officers they have promised but so far failed to deliver.”

Matthew Barber, the police and crime commissioner for the Thames Valley, has defended the statistics.

“Burglaries are down by

47% in Wokingham since 2019 and the new Crimefighters strategy I will be unveiling in the coming months will refocus the police’s efforts onto community policing,” he explained.

“There are now more police officers than ever before in Thames Valley.

“We have already met our target for the Home Office funded recruitment and are going further, with an additional 80 officers funded through my budget this year.”

Mr Barber has also promised that he will continue to hold the force to account to improve outcomes of investigations.

He added: “Overall, charges and cautions are up by 17% across the force compared to last year.

“Across Bracknell and Wokingham that has meant 155 more cases going to court than the previous year.”