BRADFORD's Liberal Democrat group has slammed the Government after a staggering 80 per cent of burglaries went unsolved in West Yorkshire in the 2022/2023 financial year.

The figures, from official Home Office statistics, show in 2022/2023 a total of 11,418 burglaries in West Yorkshire were closed without a suspect being identified, accounting for 80 per cent of all cases.

Meanwhile, just six per cent of West Yorkshire’s burglaries resulted in a suspect being charged or summonsed.

The national figures paint a similar picture. Across England and Wales, nearly 77 per cent of all burglaries went unsolved in that same time period.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing, where officers are visible in their neighbourhoods, with time and resources to tackle local crimes like burglaries.

The party is also calling for a new 'Burglary Response Guarantee' under which all domestic burglaries would be attended and investigated by police. 

Councillor Brendan Stubbs, the leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Bradford Council, said: “Everyone deserves to feel safe and secure in their own homes. These figures will bring little comfort to families and pensioners in Bradford.

“It’s a disgrace our local communities are paying the price for the Government’s failures to get tough on burglaries. 

“The Conservatives must finally bring back proper community policing and back the Liberal Democrats' Burglary Response Guarantee so all burglaries are attended by the police. It’s the only way to reverse these shocking figures.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We have delivered on the promise we made to the British people to recruit 20,000 additional officers. West Yorkshire alone has recruited 974 additional uplift officers, and now has more officers than ever before.

“The Home Secretary wants forces getting the basics right – deterring crime and catching more criminals.

“That’s why she’s called for every force to send an officer to investigate the scene of every home burglary and delivered £560.8m for West Yorkshire Police this year, an increase of up to £18.9m.”

A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesperson said: “We are working with police forces across the country to understand why the charge rate is so low and how we can bring more offenders to justice.

“Burglaries are an insidious crime. They do not just involve the loss of personal possessions, which in itself is very distressing, but they are also extremely invasive and can make people feel unsafe in their own homes.

“Our focus remains on preventing burglaries, targeting repeat offenders and organised crime groups and solving as many burglaries as we can.”