§ Mr. Michael McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been victims of violent death since 1 January; and if he will give comparable figures for the past five years.
§ Mr. Mayhew[pursuant to his reply, 8 June 1981,c. 14]: The information available on homicide, which is published annually, relates to the number of offences of homicide recorded by the police in England and Wales, one offence being counted for each victim at the time the offence is recorded. The latest figures for 1980 were published in Home Office "Statistical Bulletin" 5/81, a copy of which is in the Library of the House. The data so far available for 1981 and for comparable periods in earlier years are given in the following table. I understand that information on all deaths from accidental and violent causes is published by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.
Offences of homicide recorded by the police Number of Offences Period 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1st quarter 128 130 112 156 135 114 Annual total 565 482 532 629 620 * *not available