§ Sir C. Osborneasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he was able to give the number of cases of robbery with violence for 1965, but not the number of murders known to the police for the same year; and if he will now state this figure for the year 1965.
§ Miss BaconIn view of the importance of having reliable murder statistics, it is established practice to adjust the number of deaths initially recorded as murder so as to exclude cases later found not to be murder, and these final figures are used as the basis of comparison between different years. The figures for other offences are not similarly adjusted. The number of deaths in England and Wales initially recorded as murder in 1965 was given in the reply to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Nelson and Colne on 25th January. The final 1965 murder figures are not yet available as all the cases have not passed through the courts.