HC Deb 07 November 2000 vol 356 c206W
Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what, based on information contained in British Crime Surveys and police recorded crime figures was the percentage of crimes committed against individuals and their property which(a) were reported, (b) were recorded by the police, (c) were cleared up, (d) resulted in a caution or conviction, (e) resulted in a conviction and (f) resulted in a custodial sentence in (i) 1997, (ii) 1998 and (iii) 1999; and if he will make a statement. [134675]

Mr. Charles Clarke

[holding answer 30 October 2000]: Information on attrition within the Criminal Justice System in 1997 is detailed on page 29 of "Digest 4—Information on the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales" published by the Home Office in October 1999. A copy of this publication is available in the Library.

The information requested for 1998 is not available, as no British Crime Survey was conducted in 1999.

The 2000 British Crime Survey measures crimes against people living in private households. It also provides estimates of the proportion reported to the police and recorded by them. This is detailed on page 6 of the "2000 British Crime Survey—Home Office Statistical Bulletin 18/00" published by the Home Office in October 2000. The survey does not include data on the other requests.

Figures for 1997 and 1999 are not directly comparable due to changes in the Home Office rules on counting and classification of recorded crime on 1 April 1998. Further details of the changes, and the way in which they have affected the notifiable offences series, are shown in Home Office Statistical Bulletin 18/99.