7. Question No. 7—PoliceHon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of PoliceQuestion No. 7—Police7. Hon MARK MITCHELL (National—Whangaparāoa) to the Minister of Police: How many ram raids were there in 2018 and what is the percentage increase from 2018 to 2022? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Acting Minister of Police): Police advise me that the data shows there were 88 incidents of ram raids on retail premises and 48 incidents of ram raids on commercial premises in 2018. Therefore a total of 136 ram raids were recorded on either retail or commercial premises by Police in 2018. In 2022 there were 662 incidents of ram raids on retail premises and 224 incidents of ram raids on commercial premises. This is a total of 886 ram raids recorded on either retail or commercial premises by Police in 2022. The percentage increase from 2018 to 2022 considering both retail and commercial premises is 551 percent. This total represents an increase on those provided in the House in 2022 due to the inclusion of ram raids on both commercial premises in the ram raid statistics. Previously ram raids were only reported on retail premises. Commercial premises were added in January this year to capture the increasing number of ram raids that were occurring in premises deemed commercial" in the Police system including jewellers and big-box commercial stores. Hon Mark Mitchell: Does she agree with the Prime Minister who said that there was a 75 percent reduction in ram raids? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: This has been acknowledged by the Police that there was an issue with the data that was provided to the then Minister of Police. One of the issues was that in January commercial was added to retail and that was a change. I have asked Police to quickly prepare a note so that the Government can be sure that we can have confidence in the veracity of data on which we are making policy decisions. Hon Mark Mitchell: Well should the Prime Minister return to the House and correct his answer to the House saying that there'd been a 75 percent reduction in ram raids? Hon Grant Robertson: Point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister doesn't have any responsibility for the Prime Minister in that regard. SPEAKER: No ministerial responsibility. Hon Mark Mitchell: Can she confirm that previously the Government claimed that there were 524 ram raids in 2022 when there were actually over 880—an increase of 70 percent? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I explained in the answer to my primary question the difference between the retail and the commercial numbers and that fact that that only started being reported in January of this year. I can't confirm the actual numbers the member is talking about because I don't have them in front of me but if you would like to put that question in writing I would be happy to do so. But I do point the member to the fact that Police have acknowledged that there had been an issue with the data and they are looking through any answers to see if they need to be corrected particularly in the written parliamentary questions system. Hon Mark Mitchell: When will the Government accept that it has failed to keep New Zealanders safe in their communities with a ram raid now occurring once every 10 hours? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I'll point the member to a different data set and that is the number of ram raids that are occurring by month. We saw a peak of ram raids of 116 occurring in August 2022 then we see what the evidence shows us and that is the effectiveness of the Government policies that are coming into effect. So we can then look at the evidence. In February 2023: a fall from 116 ram raids to 40 ram raids. We can also look to the number of prosecutions and interventions that have happened with those carrying out these criminal offences. Hon Mark Mitchell: So with the Minister having just told the House that they're not confident in the data being produced by the Police to them can she tell us that the total for February this year has been completed and that all ram raids have been captured? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: That is the number I have been provided by Police before I came down to the House. I explicitly asked whether I could have confidence in that number and I was assured by Police I could."