asked Her Majesty's Government:

What further steps they intend to take to improve police response to level 2 crime. [HL178]

We are working with police forces and authorities to create additional capability and capacity across the country for the delivery of protective services, including the police response to level 2 crime, by encouraging them to explore opportunities for collaboration. We have also asked police forces and authorities to assess their demand for protective services and put in place plans to improve their delivery. We will be measuring forces’ performance in these areas from 2008-09 and new national standards have been introduced by the Association of Chief Police Officers, which set the benchmark for inspections that are currently under way by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.

We have also invested in the development of an intelligence unit to tackle level 2 crime in each police region and we have contributed to the growth of a serious crime investigatory unit in the east Midlands.