§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent crimes against people were committed in each year since 1997 in West Mercia. [151360]
§ Ms BlearsThe available information is given in the following table.
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Numbers of violent crimes1 recorded by West Mercia police Offences recorded 19972 4,213 1998–993 7,964 1999–2000 9,157 2000–01 8,765 2001–024 18,440 2002–03 21,499 1 In accordance with Home Office Counting Rules for Recorded crime, violent crime comprises offences of violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery. 2 Crimes were recorded on a calendar year basis until 1997, and on a financial year basis thereafter. 3 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. 4 West Mercia Police implemented the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) on 1 April 2001, which was a year earlier than the official introduction across England and and cover approximately 20,000 staff. The details have been broken down by tax year (6 April to 5 April) with the exception of the current tax year, for which data has been supplied up to 31 January 2004. The Home Office pays Statutory Sick Pay over five days, Monday to Friday. A week has therefore been classed as five days.
Wales on 1 April 2002. Broadly, the NCRS had the effect of increasing the number of crimes recorded by the police, with violent crime in particular being affected. Therefore, following the introduction of the Standard, numbers of recorded crimes are not comparable with previous years.