Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made on the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the rate of crime involving young people.

No data exists on the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the rate of crime involving young people. However, the National Police Chiefs Council reported on its website on 27 August 2020 that provisional data from police forces in England and Wales shows a reduction in crime during the Coronavirus outbreak and that the vast majority of the public are following government regulations enacted in response to the crisis. It also reported that the provisional data indicates certain crime trends are returning towards pre-lockdown levels. This report is available from:

https://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/provisional-data-shows-crime-slowly-returning-to-2019-levels

The Office for National Statistics published a report ‘Coronavirus and crime in England and Wales’ on 26 August 2020, which estimated a significant reduction in crime during April and May 2020 compared with a two-month average in the pre-lockdown period, and that reductions were seen across many types of crime. This report is available from:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/coronavirusandcrimeinenglandandwales/august2020

Police recorded crime statistics and Crime Survey of England and Wales data covering the period to June 2020 will be released in October 2020.