§ Ms Rachel SquireTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many recorded offences there were in(a)1979, (b) 1991, (c) 1992, (d) 1995 and (e) the first six months of 1996. [17234]
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 24 February 1997]: For statistical purposes the Scottish Office Home Department draws a distinction between crimes and offences. The information requested for both crimes and offences is set out in the table. Information for 1996 is not yet available.
Crimes and offences recorded by the police, Scotland Crimes Offences 1979 346,680 327,275 1991 592,774 427,883 1992 589,562 433,896 1995 502,802 451,869 Full details of the classification of crimes and offences can be found in the annexe to the Scottish Office statistical bulletin "Recorded Crime in Scotland 1995".