§ Mr. Howieasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give figures showing the amount of crime recorded and cleared up in England and Wales in 1969; and how these figures compare with 1968.
§ Mr. CallaghanThe provisional number of indictable offences known to the
300Wpolice in England and Wales in 1969 was 1,488,638 and 626,728 (42.1 per cent.) were cleared up. These figures are not directly comparable with those for 1968 mainly because of the effect on the statistics of the Theft Act, 1968, which came into force on 1st January, 1969. If the 1968 figures are adjusted to make allowance for this and for certain changes in recording practice, the increase in 1969 over 1968 is estimated to be 6.3 per cent. —compared with an increase in 1968 over 1967 of 6.8 per cent.—and the 1968 clear-up rate is calculated at 41.1 per cent. The following table gives details of the 1969 figures.
Indictable offences Cleared up Known to the police Number Percentage Violence against the person 37,818 30,752 81.3 Sexual offences 23,526 18,018 76.6 Burglary and robbery 426,812 143,474 33.6 Theft and un-authorised taking 878,710 331,357 37.7 Handling stolen goods 32,790 32,474 99.0 Frauds 64,531 52,578 81.5 Other offences 24,451 18,075 73.9 1,488,638 626,728 42.1