§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of violent crime was in each constituency in Wales in(a) 1997 and (b) 2001. [32111]
§ Mr. DenhamRecorded crime data are not collected by parliamentary constituency. Information on numbers of certain offences, including violent crime, has been collected centrally at police Basic Command Unit (BCU), and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership level, since 1 April 1999. The Home Office statistical bulletin "Recorded Crime England and Wales, 12 months to March 2001", published on 19 July 2001, includes details of recorded crimes in these areas.
The British Crime Survey has shown that, in England and Wales as a whole, victimisation for the violent crime in the survey which is comparable to recorded crime decreased by 19 per cent. between the 1999 and 2000 calendar years, whereas comparable violent crime recorded by the police increased by 9 per cent. Violent crime recorded by the police may therefore not necessarily be a reflection of real changes in the level of victimisation.