§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the increase in theft and violence since May 1979; and whether he will include in theOfficial Report a table showing the increase in the number of (i) thefts and (ii) violent crimes in the decades ending in 1968, 1978 and 1988 in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. John PattenThe available figures are summarised in the table. Comparable figures for theft and handling stolen goods are not available before 1969 because of changes introduced by the Theft Act 1968; there is also some lack of comparability from 1980 due to changes in the counting rules. Figures on notifiable offences recorded by the police are published annually in chapter 2 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales", of which the most recent issue is for 1986 (Cm. 233). Figures for 1987 were published in Home Office statistical bulletin 6/88 and will be included in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1987" later this year; and figures for the first quarter of 1988 were published in Home Office statistical bulletin 19/88; copies of these publications are available in the Library.
398W
Certain notifiable offences recorded by the police England and Wales Numbers (000s) and percentages Change Offence group Number recorded Number per cent. (000s) (000s) Violent crime1 1957 31 1967 56 +25 +82 1977 117 +61 +109 1987 199 +82 +70
Change Offence group Number recorded Number per cent. (000s) (000s) April 1978–March 1979 123 April 1987–March 1988 206 +83 +67 Theft and handling stolen goods 1969 912 1978 1,441 529 +58 1987 2,052 611 +42 April 1978–March 1979 1,411 April 1987–March 1988 2,064 653 +46 1Violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery.