Latest Home Office Figures: More Than 80% of Surrey Burglaries Go Unsolved

Guildford Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate Zöe Franklin: “We are all paying the price of years of Conservative government failures and underfunding.” 

Latest Home Office statistics, for the 12 months to June 2023: 

• of the 3,679 recorded burglaries in Surrey
• 171, or 4.65%, resulted in a suspect being charged or summonsed  
• 3,025, or 82.22%, went unsolved 
• the third worst police force performance in England and Wales 

Zöe Franklin commented: “These figures are an appalling indictment of years of neglect and ineffective resourcing from this Conservative government; it is failing us, by failing to give the police the resources they need. I thank the Surrey Police Force for its service. 

“Police forces up and down the country are overstretched, and are simply unable to give crimes like burglaries the attention they should receive. 

“A break-in isn’t simply about possessions, it’s an invasion of our safe space. Our homes are somewhere we should be able to feel safe. Once that trust and security has been violated, it can be devastating. 

“The Conservatives are failing to get even the basics right on cutting crime, and our communities are paying the price.” 

The national figures for England and Wales paint a similarly dismal picture.  

• 76% of all burglaries across England and Wales went unsolved in the year ending June 2023 .
• Just 6% of cases resulted in a suspect being charged or summonsed.  
• More than 4,500 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) have been taken off the streets since 2015, and just 12% of officers have been assigned to neighbourhood policing teams. 

Zöe Franklin added: “The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new “Burglary Response Guarantee,” where all domestic burglaries would be attended by the police and properly investigated. 

“This would be accompanied by a return to proper community policing, where officers are visible, trusted and focused on tackling neighbourhood crime. 

“Everyone should feel safe in their home, and be confident that if they are burgled, the criminal will swiftly face justice. How can people in Guildford have that confidence, seeing these awful figures?”

The Liberal Democrats will keep fighting to restore proper community policing and implement our Burglary Response Guarantee.