13. To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he plans to take to reduce crime in Northern Ireland under the continuing modernisation and review of the criminal justice system. (137968)

Overall levels of recorded crime in Northern Ireland fell by 1.7 per cent. in 2006-07 and are down 15 per cent. on 2002-03 levels.

But we need to keep up our efforts. The reforms in policing and criminal justice have provided us with modern and effective institutions. Better partnership working has seen dramatic improvements in reducing domestic burglaries and vehicle crime. A new community safety strategy will be published this year. We are working on a strategy to reduce re-offending.

We look forward to discussing these issues in detail with elected representatives in Northern Ireland, who I hope will take over responsibility for them as soon as possible, in line with the St Andrews agreement.