§ Mr. Sean Hughesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has as to (a) the crime rate among under 16-year-old age group; (b) the crime rate in 16 to 18-year-old age group; (c) the overall crime rate; (d) the incidence of violent crime including attacks on the person; (e) the incidence of theft in all categories; and (f) the incidence of drug-related crime on Merseyside for the most recent period for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Mellor[pursuant to his reply, 24 July 1984,c.589]: At the time of recording of most offences the identity of the offender is unknown and so information about recorded offences cannot be given separately for different age groups. The available information about ages of offenders is for those found guilty or cautioned and is published annually for police force in areas "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales"—table 5.20 of the latest volume for 1982 (Cmnd. 9048) and table S3.2 (B), (C) and (D), and S3.7 (B), (C) and (D) of the supplementary tables 1982 vol. 3. Statistics of notifiable offences recorded by the police, including offences of violence against the person and theft offences, are also published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales" and, in less detail, in quarterly statistical bulletins; table 6 of issue 5/84 gives 1983 figures for Merseyside police force area. Offences of trafficking in controlled drugs have been included in the coverage of notifiable offences recorded by the police from the beginning of 1983 and figures by police 224W force area will be given in table S3.1 of the supplementary tables 1983, vol. 3 to be published in September 1984; there were 180 such offences recorded by the police in Merseyside in 1983. More detailed information about all persons found guilty or cautioned for offences under drugs legislation or other offences involving controlled drugs is published annually in a Home Office statistical bulletin, "Statistics of the misuse of drugs in the United Kingdom"; issue 13/83 contains statistics for 1982 but not separately for individual police force areas although such information can be provided. 304 people were sentenced or cautioned in the Merseyside police force area in 1982 for offences under drugs legislation or other offences where controlled drugs were also involved.