HC Deb 28 January 1980 vol 977 c436W

Mr. Cohen asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the percentage increase in indictable offences between 1945 and 1978.

Mr. Brittan

Figures for 1945 and 1978 are not fully comparable owing to changes in the law and recording practice, but the number of indictable offences recorded by the police in England and Wales in 1978 showed an increase of about 400 per cent. over the number of crimes known to the police in England and Wales in 1945.