Police failed to attend three quarters of burglaries in some areas last year as the Tories were accused of letting crooks off the hook.
Officers did not visit the scene of 25,938 home break-ins in England in 2023 - around 20% of all cases recorded - according to figures compiled by the Liberal Democrats. This is despite a claim from the National Police Chiefs’ Council last June that all domestic burglaries were being attended by police.
It means victims are "abandoned and let down", the Lib Dems say. Latest Home Office figures show that three in four burglaries - a total of 213,814 cases - went unsolved in the year ending September 2023.
Bedfordshire had the worst record, with three quarters (77%) of domestic burglaries still going unattended. Officers went to the scene of just 368 incidents while failing to turn up in 1,205 cases.
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Avon & Somerset saw two in three (67%) domestic burglaries going unattended, followed by Surrey with 63%. The figures were compiled from Freedom of Information responses provided by 24 of 39 police forces in England.
The best performing force, Wiltshire, saw police fail to turn up to 6% of domestic burglary reports. Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: “This is yet another empty promise from Conservative ministers, with local communities left paying the price as hundreds of burglaries a day go unsolved.
"Burglaries are an appalling and intrusive crime that can leave people feeling unsafe in their own homes. The ongoing failure to investigate and attend every burglary is letting criminals off the hook while victims are abandoned and let down.”
The figures fly in the face of claims made by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman last summer. In June she said: “Burglary is an awful crime which must be tackled and that's why I am delighted to see that police forces across England and Wales have fulfilled their commitment to attend all domestic burglaries.
"This will help increase public confidence and see more criminals caught.”
Detective Chief Inspector Matt Inwood from Bedfordshire Police’s Criminal Investigation Department said: “These statistics relate to burglaries to which we sent an immediate response. Not all burglaries require an immediate response, so these figures are not an accurate reflection of our performance in relation to this type of crime.
"Bedfordshire Police were one of the first forces in the country to commit to sending a resource to every residential burglary; that could be an investigator from our dedicated burglary team or crime scene investigator.
"Last month, our attendance rate for residential burglaries was 99%, with an average rate of more than 90% for the past six months."
The Lib Dems has called on the Government to bring in a legal Burglary Response Guarantee - which would see all domestic burglaries would be attended by the police and properly investigated.
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