§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of(a) violent crime, (b) burglary and (c) vandalism in the Buckingham constituency were reported to the police in each year since 1997; and how many investigations resulted in a conviction. [22635]
§ Mr. DenhamThe requested details are not collected centrally.
Details of some offences recorded by the police have been collected by police Basic Command Unit (BCU) since 1 April 1999. The table gives details of numbers of offences and detections for the Aylesbury Vale BCU. Details of criminal damage offences are not collected at BCU level.
1999–2000 2000–01 Violent crime Offences 970 1,217 Offences detected 775 834 Burglary in a dwelling Offences 779 533 Offences detected 166 93 Violent crime is comprised of the violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery offence groups.
It should be noted that recorded violent crime is subject to changes in reporting and recording. The 2001 British Crime Survey found that in England and Wales as a whole, victimisation for the violent crime in the survey which is comparable to recorded crime decreased by 19 per cent. between the 1999 and 2000 calendar years, whereas comparable violent crime recorded by the police increased by 9 per cent. Violent crime recorded by the police may therefore not necessarily be a reflection of real changes in the level of victimisation.
Details of convictions specifically relating to offences in the Aylesbury Vale BCU are not available.