§ 1979 and 1986. Mr. Wareingasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the increase in burglary between (a) 1974 and 1979 and (b)
§ Mr. MellorThe number of offences of burglary recorded by the police in England and Wales increased by an average of 2.6 per cent. per year between 1974 and 1979, and by 7.9 per cent. a year between 1979 and 1986. Statistics of recorded offences are published each year in the Command Paper "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales" (table 2.10 of the issue for 1985) and for 1986 in Home Office Statistical Bulletin, 4/87. Results from crime surveys imply that much of these increases in recorded burglary was due to a rise in the proportion of domestic burglaries being reported to the police. This rise in reporting is discussed in chapter 2 of the 1984 Command Paper (Cmnd. 9621: paras. 2.6 to 2.13).