§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the most recent figures are for the proportion of crime that is drug related in(a) Lancashire, (b) the North West of England and (c) Wales. [70321]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthRecorded crime figures include statistics on drugs offences; such as possession, and on acquisitive crimes, such as burglary, but do not record whether the latter are related to an offender's drug habits.
The New English and Welsh Arrestees Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) research programme of interviewing and drug testing those arrested by the police sheds some light on the links between drugs and crime, although the conclusions do not relate specifically to the North West region or to Wales. As a guide to the proportion of crime that is drug-related, research based on eight locations (1999–2000) indicates that more than three-fifths (by value) of acquisitive crime, is committed by users of both heroin and cocaine/crack.
The numbers of acquisitive crimes recorded by the police in each of the three areas in 2001–02 are set out in Table 1. Acquisitive crimes are burglary, theft and robbery.
Table 1: Acquisitive crimes recorded by the police, 2001–02 Acquisitive crimes Lancashire 98,559 North West 598,665 Wales 165,953 Source:
"Crime in England and Wales 2001–2002": Home Office Statistical Bulletin 07/02.
§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were(a) arrested and (b) convicted of drug dealing in (i) Lancashire, (ii) the North West of England and (iii) Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [70323]
§ Mr. Bob AinsworthArrest data are not available centrally to the level of detail required. The following table presents information for each area requested on the number of(a) drug dealing offences referred to court and (b) drug dealing convictions in 2000.
667W
Number of drug dealing offences in 2000 Area Referred to court Convicted Lancashire (police force area) 369 249 North West 2,390 1,706 Wales 1,078 734 (1) Police forces included in the total for the North West (Government Office Region) are as follows: Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. Police forces included in the total for Wales are: Dyfed Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales.
(2) The term "dealing" is taken to cover the following drug offences: possession with intent to supply unlawfully, unlawful supply, and unlawful import/export.
Source:
Drug and Alcohol Research Unit.