§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the number and percentage of crimes that are unsolved in each police force for each year since 1979; and if he will make a statement on his assessment of the main reasons for such unsolved crimes.
§ Mr. John PattenThe readily available information is the number and percentage of recorded crimes that were cleared up in each police force area in 1986–89. For 1986–88 the information is published in tables 2.18 and 2.19 of "Criminal statistics, England and Wales". For 1989 the information is given in the following table. Although there are many reasons why crimes are not solved, a major factor is likely to be inadequate information or evidence on which to base further inquiries.
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Notifiable offences recorded by the police which were cleared up by police force area England and Wales 1989 Police force area Number cleared up Percentage cleared up Avon and Somerset 32,135 33 Bedfordshire 13,592 34 Cambridgeshire 13,707 38 Cheshire 23,121 52 Cleveland 21,029 36 Cumbria 13,343 49 Derbyshire 16,621 37 Devon and Cornwall 26,848 36 Dorset 16,520 42 Durham 17,622 42 Essex 23,814 32 Gloucestershire 12,496 36 Greater Manchester 82,227 30 Hampshire 31,023 32 Hertfordshire 17,678 44 Humberside 31,073 35 Kent 25,350 32 Lancashire 31,011 40 Leicestershire 21,345 40 Lincolnshire 14,276 42 London, City of 1,424 20 Merseyside 57,670 45
Police force area Number cleared up Percentage cleared up Metropolitan Police District 127,984 17 Norfolk 17,671 40 Northamptonshire 16,264 43 Northumbria 67,880 40 North Yorkshire 12,092 35 Nottinghamshire 35,607 35 South Yorkshire 39,222 43 Staffordshire 24,874 43 Suffolk 13,222 43 Surrey 10,944 33 Sussex 22,727 31 Thames Valley 39,142 33 Warwickshire 8,697 35 West Mercia 19,290 39 West Midlands 87,225 39