§ Mr. Ben ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will collate crime statistics by parliamentary constituency. [21676]
§ Mr. MichaelIt is not practical for the Home Office to collate recorded crime statistics in this way. The statistics which are collected centrally are supplied by individual police forces for the whole of their own force area. Many forces break down statistics for their own purposes into 555W smaller areas such as the division or sub-division, but these do not necessarily equate to parliamentary constituency boundaries. In some cases, it may be possible for such local information to be used as "building blocks" for a constituency profile. Some forces do use geographical software to "map" incidents and offences within their area for a variety of purposes. In the future, such analysis of data will become increasingly important in informing the local crime and disorder audit work of police and local authorities in preparation for their joint responsibilities as proposed in the Crime and Disorder Bill.