Home Office missing crime target

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The Home Office is falling behind its five-year target for reducing crime, a government report reveals.

The number of offences reported in the year to June was 11 million, while it should have been down to 10.5 million by this stage.

The Home Office's own report said there had been "slippage" in efforts to cut crime, protect the public and reduce the use of Class A drugs among youths.

Home Secretary John Reid said "headway" had been made but more had to be done.

Behind schedule

The Home Office's Autumn Performance Report shows the department has achieved or partly achieved seven of its 15 "performance benchmarks", in areas including crime, public safety and asylum removals.

In 2003, the Home Office set itself a target of reducing crime by 15% by 2008.

By this summer, the cut totalled 11%, meaning efforts were slipping behind schedule.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We are behind trajectory but still have until March 2008 to meet the target."

The report - which analyses figures given in the British Crime Survey - also says the department has failed to meet a target, set in 2000, to cut the rate of reconvictions for young offenders by 5%.

And it narrowly failed to meet his target to reduce Class A drug use among young people by 8.6%.

Mr Reid said: "We set targets that are both challenging and achievable, and which incentivise improvements in public services."

He added: "By protecting the law-abiding citizen through an effective justice system, we're strengthening the security of our society."

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "Despite all the tough talk from John Reid, the government has failed to meet its own targets for reducing crime, drug use by young people, and re-offending. This amounts to serial failure."