To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many vehicles were stolen in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years; how many persons were (a) charged with and (b) convicted of vehicle theft in each year; and what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of car theft. (170495)

The Policing Board and the PSNI have made tackling vehicle crime a key priority, and have achieved a 65 per cent. reduction in the number of recorded incidents in the period covered by the following table.

In 1998-99 the Home Office introduced revised counting rules for recording crime. As crime figures produced from 1998-99 onwards should be regarded as a new statistical series, figures for 1997-98 are not comparable and have therefore not been provided.

Vehicle crime control strategies focus on the main areas of prevention, intelligence, enforcement and reassurance. This results in a variety of tactical responses including targeted high visibility patrolling, enforcement of bail conditions for known offenders, development of community watch programmes, pro-active operations and media awareness campaigns. This list is not exhaustive as strategies are applied in line with the needs and priorities of the local policing area.

The following table displays the number of convictions for theft of a vehicle by offence during the calendar years 1996-2005. 2005 is the last year for which data are available¹.

¹ Data are collated on the principal offence rule; so only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included.