§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Government's methodology for recording crime statistics; and when this methodology was last changed. [71013]
§ Mr. DenhamPolice practice on recorded crime statistics has for many years been governed by Home Office Counting Rules. These rules have covered the counting and classification of crimes for statistical purposes, although the policy on whether to record crimes that have been reported has in the past varied from force to force.
The Home Office Counting Rules for Recorded Crime were last revised with effect from 1 April 2002, principally to take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard which was produced by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in consultation with the Home Office. The Standard aims to promote greater consistency between police forces in recording reports of crime and to take a more victim orientated approach to crime recording.
The latest change to the Rules is anticipated to impact mainly on the violence against the person, theft and handling and criminal damage offence groups, although all offence groups are potentially affected and the impact of the changes will vary between the different police forces.
The recorded crime statistics cover all indictable and triable-either-way offences, together with a few summary offences closely related to more serious ones.
A copy of the Home Office Counting Rules is available on the website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/counting/index.html.