Why it matters:
Over the past decade, ensuring security and combating crime have remained key priorities for successive British governments. However, the rapid rise in criminal activity and the growing prison population have intensified concerns across the country.
By the numbers:
Each year, businesses in the U.K. face losses totaling £38 billion, while public organizations and government institutions expend £31 billion. Additionally, citizens suffer £63 billion in losses due to crime. These figures represent an annual cost of £250 billion attributed to crime in the U.K.. According to the U.K.'s National Statistics Office, around 9.2 million crimes were reported last year.
What they're saying:
Policy Exchange suggests that the U.K. government could allocate £5 billion for new prisons, adding 53,000 spaces. Police chiefs must be held accountable in high-crime areas, imposing two-year sentences on repeat offenders and replacing senior officials if crime rates rise.
Andy Haldane, chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts says in an era of acute anxiety, this report is an arresting clarion – and wake-up – call to all political parties on the true and rising economic costs of crime and the societal consequences of continuing malign neglect of that most foundational of government responsibilities – the security of citizens."
Diana Johnson, the minister for crime and policing, says visible policing back should be brought to communities, with 13,000 extra neighborhood police officers, PCSOs, and specials. Alongside this, the government will build 14,000 more prison places by 2031 to lock up dangerous offenders, based on a "Plan for Change."
Go deeper:
Cyber Threats Against UK Gov't Intensifies
Mohammad Kazemi
