HC Deb 19 July 2002 vol 389 cc680-1W
Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the number of offences committed in each police authority area in England in each reporting period since 1995–96; and if he will make a statement. [56237]

Mr. Denham

[holding answer 21 May 2002]: The requested information is given in the table.

The period requested covers the change in counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998, and the boundary change involving the Metropolitan Police on 1 April 2000. Some forces adopted the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard in advance of its national implementation on 1 April 2002. This may inflate the number of crimes those forces recorded.

Total recorded crime by police force area England and Wales 1995–2000(3)
Police force area Number of offences
1995 1996 1997 1997–98(1) 1998–99(1) 1998–99(2) 1999–2000(3) New boundaries 2000–01 2001–02
North Yorkshire* 63,539 56,919 50,252 50,297 48,372 55,309 53,554 51,551 59,149
Nottinghamshire 151,371 144,060 128,015 125,097 123,680 135,255 136.875 139,903 159,240
South Yorkshire 154,293 151,577 130,960 125,907 124,427 133,059 131,700 125,179 134,764
Staffordshire* 91,495 92,155 89,957 89,820 84,495 91,919 98,852 104,705 117,274
Suffolk* 38,233 37,095 35,639 35,262 34,280 39,908 43,355 44,317 50,492
Surrey 44,313 42,014 38,440 38,015 36,376 42,467 46,288 63,791 63,321 61,970
Sussex 110,300 118,086 111,624 110,320 111,468 130,402 136,566 136,920 135,110
Thames Valley 178,702 172,194 157,423 154,014 161,646 176,477 191,875 187,989 196,980
Warwickshire 38.906 38,926 35,725 35,604 35,659 38,485 38,593 36,963 42,211
West Mercia* 80,013 82,254 76,762 75,330 69,451 81,782 84,797 78,363 102,149
West Midlands* 318,087 317,892 278,975 277,970 276,512 314,628 364,888 364,879 372,257
West Yorkshire 283,938 268,716 244,142 242,646 246,438 273,809 260,238 258,908 298,847
Wiltshire 36,428 35,911 33,039 32,831 32,984 38,189 38,461 36,555 38,889
England 4,852,894 4,790,306 4,361,391 4,312,831 4,259,118 4,847,095 5,045,700 4,932,394 5,285,317

* Adopted the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard prior to 1 April 2002.

(1) The number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the coverage and rules in use until 31 March 1998.

(2) The number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the expanded offence coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998.

(3) New boundaries for the police force areas of Hertfordshire. Essex, Metropolitan Police and Surrey came into effect on 1.4.2000. These figures are the totals for the new areas in the previous year.