To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the Association of Chief Police Officers concerning the methods to be used in the apprehension of those suspected of acts of aggravated vehicle-taking; and if he will make a statement.

This is an operational matter for the police.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has for the latest available year of all motor vehicles stolen or broken into, on the number of cases in which the method of entry was via (a) a forced window, (b) a smashed window and (c) a forced door.

[holding answer 13 March 1992]: The only information held centrally is from the British crime survey. The most recent sweep, conducted in early 1988, showed that of a sample of 1,500 motor vehicles which were stolen or broken into over the past year, entry was as shown below. The survey does not ask for methods of entry in quite the same way as the question specifies. Nor do all victims, particularly those of theft of cars, know the method of entry. The other methods referred to in the third row include entry by unlocked doors and open windows.