§ Mr. J. J. Astorasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what increase or decrease there was in the volume of crime in 1954 as compared with 1953.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeI am glad to say that the provisional figures for 1954 show that there was a decrease of 8.2 per cent. in the number of indictable offences known to the police in England and Wales compared with the previous year. The provisional total for 1954 was 434,327 compared with 472,989 in 1953—a decrease of 38,662. These offences may be divided into groups as shown in the following table:
Offence Group Offences known to the police 1953 1954 Variation per cent. Violence against the person 7,083 7,506 + 6.0 Sexual offences 16,317 16,096 - 1.4 Breaking and entering 88,607 75,888 -14.4 Larceny 308,578 285,199 - 7.6 Receiving 7,786 6,468 -16.9 Frauds and false pretences 27,763 26,267 - 5.4 Malicious injury to property 5,309 5,251 - 1.1 Forgery 4,649 4,903 + 5.5 Robbery 980 812 -17.1 Others 5,917 5,937 + 0.3 Total 472,989 434,327 - 8.2