HC Deb 20 November 2000 vol 357 c83W
24. Mr. Derek Twigg

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on trends in the levels of crime since 1997. [137473]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The most recently published information comes from the British Crime Survey published on 17 October. It shows that there was an overall fall of 10 per cent. between 1997 and 1999 in the crimes which the British Crime Survey measures.

28. Mr. Savidge

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on trends in(a) recorded crime and (b) victimisation rates recorded in the British Crime Survey, between 1993 and 1995. [137477]

Mr. Charles Clarke

On the basis of offences that can be compared across both sets of figures, crime recorded by the police fell by 8 per cent. between 1993 and 1995. The number of comparable crimes measured by the British Crime Survey (BCS) rose by 4 per cent. The divergent trend is consistent with two results from the BCS. The first is that the proportion of offences reported to the police victims fell between 1993 and 1995. The second is that the proportion of the reported crime that was recorded by the police also fell, according to BCS evidence.