§ Mr. DevlinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many racial incidents were recorded by each police force in England and Wales in 1993–94 and 1994–95; and if he will make a statement. [24188]
Mr. MacelanThe figures are set out in the table. The increase in reported racial incidents since 1993–94 of 8 per cent. is partly due to improvements in recording practices, and also to the efforts made by police forces to encourage victims and communities to report racial incidents.
792WThe term racial incident adopted by the Association of Chief Police Officers relates to any incident in which it appears to the reporting or investigating officer that the complaint involves an element of racial motivation, or any incident which includes an allegation of racial motivation made by any person.
Reported racial incidents Forces April-March 1993–1994 April-March 1994–1995 Avon and Somerset 159 286 Bedfordshire 60 41 Cambridgeshire 100 75 Cheshire 98 62 City of London 1 6 Cleveland 50 62 Cumbria 17 24 Derbyshire 221 291 Devon and Cornwall 14 44 Dorset 25 37 Durham 32 26 Dyfed/Powys 0 3 Essex 133 127 Gloucestershire 28 37 Greater Manchester 658 637 Gwent 21 22 Hampshire 212 210 Hertfordshire 117 183 Humberside 79 75 Kent 160 173 Lancashire 262 222 Leicestershire 315 366 Lincolnshire 4 2 Metropolitan Police 15,124 5,480 Merseyside 155 131 Norfolk 33 39 North Wales 2 3 North Yorkshire 22 30 Northamptonshire 102 146 Northumbria 405 508 Nottinghamshire 264 259 South Wales 400 517 South Yorkshire 106 156 Staffordshire 117 164 Suffolk 73 73 Surrey 79 39 Sussex 214 247 Thames Valley 166 233 Warwickshire 87 114 West Mercia 100 35 West Midlands 487 375 West Yorkshire 244 254 Wiltshire 51 64 England and Wales Total 10,997 11,878 1Adjusted figure (due to a change in classification criteria) from that given to a question by the hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Ms Ruddock) on 24 June 1994, column 330.