§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to ensure that all chief constables define crimes accurately when compiling statistics.
§ Mr. MacleanWhen recording offences police consult Home Office rules for classification and counting of crimes which are standard for all the police forces in696W England and Wales. The classification of crimes is determined by precise statutory definitions. A comprehensive set of counting rules is used by police forces in order to maintain the consistency of recording multiple, continuous and repeated offences. Whilst these detailed rules are issued centrally, many decisions still have to be taken locally about the recording and counting of criminal incidents. When carrying out force inspections, Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary looks carefully at how forces record crime. If it seems that crimes are being wrongly recorded, HMIC will advise forces to adjust their practice.