Labour's commitment to cut crime and improve public services produced mixed results yesterday with separate reports showing the biggest fall in overall crime but worsening waiting times in hospitals.
The bad news at accident and emergency departments - despite a 10 per cent increase in the number of doctors in emergency care since Mr Blair came to power - was only slightly offset by the publication of the British Crime Survey which found overall crime fell by 12 per cent last year. At a meeting in Downing Street with members of Britain's most successful police forces, the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, said while there was some good news Labour was not complacent about crime.
"It is absolutely no consolation to people who get burgled or robbed to know that crime statistics have come down . . . but on the other hand, it is useful and good for people to know the trend," he said.
The decline in overall crime figures for the third year in England and Wales is seen as particularly significant since the Home Office's British Crime Survey also includes crimes that have not been reported to the police.
The Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, also welcomed a 22 per cent fall in overall crime since Labour came to power. But amid concern that the new figures were based on a smaller number of interviews than last year, he insisted the survey provided "a more accurate picture" than police statistics.
The survey found that between 1999 and 2000 violent crime had fallen by 19 per cent; domestic burglary by 17 per cent and vehicle thefts had decreased by 11 per cent. The percentage of adult victims of crime also fell from 39 per cent in 1995 to 27 per cent in 2000, representing the lowest figure for 20 years.
However, the Home Office research director, Prof Paul Wiles, admitted it was difficult to explain big discrepancies between his data and police statistics. His survey found robbery figures were down by 22 per cent, but the police had recorded almost the opposite: a rise of 21 per cent.
The Health Secretary, Mr Alan Milburn, meanwhile, admitted the Audit Commission's report showing waiting times had got worse in the past five years was "pretty disappointing". Each year, 15 million people use accident and emergency departments in England and Wales and the report found that last year just over half of patients saw a doctor within an hour compared with more than 70 per cent in 1996. In 1998 almost 90 per cent of patients who needed to be admitted were found a bed within four hours, compared with less than 80 per cent last year.
The shadow health secretary, Dr Liam Fox, said cutting 50,000 community care home places since 1997 meant hospitals had problems discharging patients.