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Labour has set up a task force responsible for drawing up reforms to increase the number of crimes solved – which the party would implement if it wins the next election.
The Opposition said more than 90% of crimes are going unsolved under the Tories, with a record 2.4 million cases dropped due to evidential difficulties in the last year alone.
Labour has set up a so-called “Charging Commission” with immediate effect. It will aim to identify reasons for the “woeful” decline in successful law enforcement and develop credible proposals to turn things around.
Senior experts from across the policing and prosecutorial sectors will sit on the commission. It will be chaired by the former Victims’ Commissioner, Dame Vera Baird, the party said.
Dame Vera quit as the victims’ commissioner in September last year, saying in a damning resignation letter that the “criminal justice system is in chaos” and ministers have downgraded victims’ interest.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “It should be unthinkable for so many more crimes to face no consequences whatsoever, but that is the shameful reality after 13 Conservative years.
“This expert Commission will help us to deliver on our pledge to make Britain safer.”
Labour pointed to recent Home Office figures showing that in the year to March 2023, there were “evidential difficulties” with 2.4 million out of 5.4 million recorded crimes.
Just 9.7% of all crimes resulted in a charge, out-of-court action or diversionary activity – leaving over 90% unsolved.
Labour said a record-high number of victims are giving up on the criminal justice system, with 1.6 million cases being dropped due to complainants pulling out.
It comes as the number of days it takes to charge a suspect has tripled since 2016, from 14 to 44.
Responding to Labour’s proposals, a Conservative Party spokesperson said:…
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