§ Mr. BlizzardTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list, by police authority, the number of reported incidents of domestic violence for each of the last three years for which figures are available. [10213]
§ Mr. DenhamDetails of the numbers of domestic violence incidents recorded by police forces, obtained from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Annual Statistical Return, are given in the table. The definition of domestic violence incidents used for the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 figures is as follows:
Any violence between current or former partners in an intimate relationship, wherever and whenever the violence occurs. The violence may include physical, sexual, emotional or financial abuse.
965WThe figures for 1998–99 used the following definition:
Any form of physical, sexual or emotional abuse which takes place within the context of a close relationship. In most cases, the relationship will be between partners, married, cohabiting or otherwise; or ex-partners.The figures for 1998–99 are therefore not directly comparable with those for 1999–2000 and 2000–01.
Domestic violence incidents Financial years Forces 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Avon and Somerset 4,791 9,973 9,210 Bedfordshire 4,923 5,474 5,616 Cambridgeshire 1,113 2,558 2,959 Cheshire 9,503 7,271 7,393 City of London 83 n/a 22 Cleveland 4,818 3,980 4,540 Cumbria 3,268 3,140 3,294 Derbyshire 12,585 9,872 n/a Devon and Cornwall 3,453 3,611 2,957 Dorset 2,116 2,306 2,361 Durham 1,930 4,679 5,446 Dyfed-Powys 2,106 2,184 1,670 Essex 10,850 10,841 9,936 Gloucestershire 1,421 6,248 6,061 Greater Manchester 56,203 46,330 51,448 Gwent 4,250 4,603 3,150 Hampshire 3,128 3,856 10,513 Hertfordshire 6,363 6,373 6,228 Humberside 1,148 7,787 6,356 Kent 9,605 8,997 8,926 Lancashire 6,778 8,560 17,392 Leicestershire 7,246 5,631 3,320 Lincolnshire 1,519 738 278 Merseyside 20,612 19,801 16,663 Metropolitan police 41,531 77,099 91,154 Norfolk 4,973 5,567 5,811 Northamptonshire 2,620 4,422 2,843 Northumbria 14,442 10,336 11,898 North Wales 4,305 2,763 3,436 North Yorkshire 4,024 5,327 3,554 Nottinghamshire 3,803 3,799 4,054 South Wales 7,252 7,609 7,507 South Yorkshire 12,209 2,177 n/a Staffordshire n/a 9,482 10,868 Suffolk 1,962 495 2,307 Surrey 1,653 3,234 5,026 Sussex 8,174 9,300 10,083 Thames Valley 10,885 10,221 5,887 Warwickshire 2,500 2,687 3,360 West Mercia n/a 1,866 6,383 West Midlands 20,362 25,225 31,328 West Yorkshire 23,658 26,271 18,604 Wiltshire 7,563 5,977 5,485 England and Wales 351,728 398,670 415,327 n/a = not available