§ Mr. EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the recorded crime figures were for the north-west in each year since 1992. [134899]
§ Ms BlearsThe requested information is given in the table. The north-west region is comprised of the following police force areas: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside.
Total number of crimes recorded by the police for the north west region Number 1992 801,832 1993 765,664 1994 719,653 1995 720,732 1996 702,372 1997 649,310 1998–99 726,730 1999–2000 736,381 2000–01 720,055 2001–02 777,809 2002–03 795,024 Note:
Up to 1997, offences were recorded on a calendar year basis, and on a financial year basis thereafter.
There was a change of counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998, which had the effect of increasing the number of crimes counted. Numbers of offences for years before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable.
The National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) was introduced across England and Wales in April 2002. Some police forces adopted the Standard prior to this date. Cheshire and Merseyside police forces introduced the Standard in April 2002, Greater Manchester in January 2002, Cumbria in April 2001, and Lancashire in August 2000. Broadly, the NCRS had the effect of increasing the number of crimes recorded by the police. Therefore, following the introduction of the Standard, numbers of recorded crimes are not comparable with previous years.