Most violent or sexual offences went unsolved in UK crime hotspots last year | Crime

Victims are being “let down time and time again” by police, a minister has said, as almost every violent or sexual offence went unsolved in hundreds of Britain’s crime hotspots last year.

Nearly 1.9m violent or sexual crimes in England and Wales were closed without a suspect being caught or charged in the year to June 2024 – about 89% of all offences given an outcome, official figures show.

Fewer than one in 10 cases were resolved in 611 neighbourhoods with the highest levels of these offences, according to a Guardian analysis, as growing numbers of victims withdraw from investigations after losing faith in securing justice.

Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said: “It is completely unacceptable that fewer and fewer violent and sexual crimes are being solved, with more victims being let down time and time again.

“The severity of these numbers prove why violence against women and girls is a national emergency and that is why we have set out our unprecedented mission to halve it in a decade.”

Only 11% of the violent and sexual offence cases in England and Wales were closed after a suspect was caught or charged in the year to June 2024, about half the proportion seven years earlier.

There were stark differences in the proportion of violent and sexual crimes going unsolved across the country, with big urban forces faring far worse than those parts of England and Wales with fewer offences.

Only 6.9% of violent or sexual crimes were solved in the West Midlands in the year ending in June, and just 7% were solved in the Metropolitan police area, according to Home Office figures. That compares with 19.2% in Lancashire and 18% in Cumbria.

About one in 10 of such offences resulted in a charge, summons, intervention or in another out-of-court outcome in Greater Manchester and Merseyside in the year to June, compared with around one in six in Cheshire, Durham and Humberside.

Violent and sexual crimes include offences such as grievous bodily harm, sexual assault, stalking, harassment and rape.

The leader of Britain’s police chiefs, Gavin Stephens, has conceded that victims face a “disparity” of policing across the country and backed calls for a “major shake-up” of how the country’s 43 forces operate.

Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has promised to end a “postcode lottery” of policing, and in November announced a new body that would coordinate specialist functions such as forensics, IT and the use of drones and helicopters.

More details about this taskforce are expected to be announced within weeks when the government publishes a white paper on its plans.

Helen Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, said in response to the Guardian investigation that people were now questioning whether to report even the most serious crimes as so many investigations end without justice.

Lady Newlove, whose husband Garry was killed by a gang of teenagers in 2007, said: “When reporting a crime, victims place their trust in the justice system to seek truth and deliver justice, knowing that their reports are taken seriously no matter who they are or where they live.

“Yet, too often, investigations are closed with no resolution, leaving victims feeling unheard and unsupported.

“Victim confidence in policing remains frail, with many questioning whether reporting a crime will lead to justice. It is up to police leaders to turn this around. We can and must do better.”

Newlove has warned that victims are increasingly withdrawing from investigations as it takes years to bring perpetrators to court.

As many as 60% of all rape investigations are closed before prosecution because the alleged victim no longer supports police action, up from 43% nine years earlier, according to official data. Separate CPS figures show that the number of alleged rape victims pulling out of prosecutions before trial has also more than doubled in five years.

The average rape investigation takes 423 days to result in a charge or summons – compared with 55 days for violence against the person, or 28 days for theft – meaning fewer were solved at year-end than other crimes.

The proportion of violent or sexual offence crimes solved rose slightly last year, to 11%, compared with a year earlier (10%). However, solve rates remain lower than before the Covid-19 pandemic: 16% of these crimes were solved in 2018, while 13% were solved the following year.

Figures published on data.police.uk, a site for open data on crime and policing, show 611 council wards with at least one violent or sexual crime each fortnight where fewer than 10% led to a suspect getting caught or charged.

Nine of those neighbourhoods – which exclude Greater Manchester and Devon and Cornwall forces because of data issues – saw no crimes solved in the 12 months ending July 2024.

The ward with the highest total of violent or sexual crimes was Birmingham Ladywood, with 711, 91% of which failed to result in a suspect being charged or cautioned. It was followed by Bradford City ward (648 violent or sexual offences) and Little London and Woodhouse in Leeds (596).

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said it was vitally important that victims of crime felt able to contact police and that forces were “working hard to transform” the response to rape and serious sexual offences.

A spokesperson said there had been a cultural shift in the way police forces approached sexual offence investigations in the last two and a half years and that there had been a 38% increase in rape suspects being charged in the year to December 2023, compared with the previous year.

The NPCC added: “However, we have much more to do. Through listening to victims, we know that disadvantage, discrimination and contextual incompetence are still being felt. We are determined to make lasting positive change to better protect victims and hold more perpetrators to justice.”