A NEW report has revealed that four out of every five housebreakings in East Renfrewshire go unsolved.

Figures released by the Scottish Government show that, in 2022/23, there were 129 such crimes recorded in the local authority area but the clear-up rate was just 20%.

A crime is regarded as ‘cleared up’ when there is enough evidence under Scots law to justify consideration of criminal proceedings – meaning the vast majority of housebreakings locally have gone unsolved.

Dame Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, described the number of unsolved housebreakings as “concerning” and called for police chiefs to be given more funding to ensure victims of such crimes are able to see the culprits being brought to justice.

She said: “These figures reveal the pressure police in communities across the constituency are under, with years of SNP mismanagement pushing services to breaking point.

“The SNP-Green government must rule out any further damaging cuts to policing in East Renfrewshire so that the police have the resources they need to tackle crime and keep the area safe.”

Chief Inspector Graeme Gaillie, Local Area Commander, said: “As reported crime returns to levels closer to that which was experienced prior to the pandemic, it is clearly a challenge to maintain detection rates while at the same time responding to growing and increasingly complex individual and community needs, especially considering the resourcing challenges resulting from the tightening financial environment.

“Our policing response is based on an assessment of threat, risk and harm to ensure the most vulnerable get the help they need and deserve and Police Scotland has driven high levels of operational competence for all our communities.

“We understand the impact that housebreaking has on victims. Housebreaking in Scotland remains significantly lower than the five-year average and compared to pre-pandemic levels.

“Housebreaking is not just people’s homes, it can also be garages, sheds and commercial properties.”

The Barrhead News has previously told how a total of 2,250 crimes were recorded by police in East Renfrewshire during the year to last December.

This included a 28% rise in the number of sex offences.

Levels of violent crime dropped by 5% over the same period but the number of incidents related to domestic abuse increased.

Reports of serious assaults and attempted murders fell from 29 in 2021 to 18 last year, while common assaults decreased by 9%.

Crimes of dishonesty have dropped by 2% overall since 2018 but rose by 18% in the year up to December, with fraud cases soaring from 64 in 2018 to 231 in 2022.