Richard Ault

Middlesbrough recorded 150 crimes per 1,000 residents in the past year, the highest rate in England outside London, while Cleveland Police had the country’s highest homicide rate. MPs Andy McDonald and Luke Myer called for a fairer funding formula, arguing that deprivation and crime levels are not adequately reflected in Government allocations. Cleveland Police faces a £3.9 million budget gap despite increased funding, and has 200 fewer officers than in 2010. Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said the figures should be a wake-up call, citing a need for a credible plan to reduce crime and noting £1.3 million of local investment in additional town-centre policing.

Official figures show Middlesbrough recorded 23,419 offences in the past year, equivalent to 150 crimes per 1,000 residents, making it England and Wales’ highest-rate area outside London. Hartlepool ranked fourth, while Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton also placed among the higher-rate areas. Cleveland Police recorded the country’s highest homicide rate at 21.7 per million people, and non-fraud crime in the force area rose 4% to 74,091 offences. The national trend remained a 1% decline in non-fraud crime, despite increases in sexual offences, robbery, drug crime, stalking and harassment, and weapons possession. Cleveland’s police and crime commissioner attributed the local figures partly to years of underfunding.