Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of rural crime; and if she will make a statement.

Across the country, crime has fallen by more than ten per cent since June
2010.The latest published data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales
shows that the proportion of adults who were victims of crime was substantially
lower in rural than urban areas, and has been falling since 2009/10. According
to the 2012/13 Crime Survey for England and Wales, 13.4 per cent of people in
rural areas were victims of crime, compared with 20.1 per cent in urban areas.

However, the latest findings from the Commercial Victimisation Survey of crimes
against businesses, which looked at crime affecting the agriculture, forestry and
fishing industry, showed that there were 130,000 incidents of crime against the
agriculture, forestry and fishing sector in 2013, affecting just under a third
(30 per cent) of premises. Of the six business sectors surveyed in 2012 and
2013, the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector experienced the lowest rate
of overall crime (1,475 incidents per 1,000 premises).

The Government recognises that rural communities are vulnerable to
certain crimes. The election of Police and Crime Commissioners has given
communities, including rural communities, a stronger voice in determining how
police resources are allocated to tackle the crimes that matter most to them.