HC Deb 16 May 2002 vol 385 cc843-4W
Mr. Evans

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many burglaries have been committed in Wales in each year since 1997; [56177]

(2) how many burglaries have been committed in Lancashire in each year since 1997. [56176]

Mr. Denham

The numbers of burglaries (both domestic and other) recorded by the police in Wales and Lancashire since 1997 have been published in successive editions of 'Criminal Statistics England and Wales', and are given in the table.

Number of burglaries
Year Wales Lancashire
19971 46,445 27,921
1998–992 41,941 24,226
1999–20002 36,764 21,360
2000–012 32,883 21,673
1Calendar year
2Year ending March

There was a change in counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998. However, it is thought that this had relatively little effect nationally on the number of burglary offences recorded. The 2000–01 figure for Lancashire may have been affected by new recording practices introduced by the force in April 2000.