§ Vera BairdTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the attrition rates for reported rape offences in the last 15 years are compiled on the same basis in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in terms of the proportion of cases(a) prosecuted and (b) resulting in a conviction for rape. [27861]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyI understand that neither the Scottish Executive nor the Northern Ireland Office produce attrition rates for rape offences. My officials have contacted officials in the Scottish Executive and in the Northern Ireland Office and our understanding is that were they to produce attrition rates, they would be compiled on much the same basis as those produced for England and Wales.
The number of offences recorded and detected by the police together with the number of offenders convicted or cautioned (although in Scotland a caution is a sanction following a charge being proved in court) would be directly comparable, to the extent that each country uses its own principal offence rule for statistical purposes where offenders are convicted of more than one type of offence at the same time.