§ Ross CranstonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to require police authorities to provide him with statistics each year on the level of business crime in each area; and if he will make a statement. [150772]
§ Ms BlearsThe Home Office currently publishes annual total crime statistics recorded by the police in England and Wales for the following offences specifically relating to business crime: robbery of business property, theft by an employee, theft from shops and theft of an automatic machine or meter. Statistics for these offences have not been published at police force area level. The most recent volume of recorded crime statistics was published in July 2003, in Statistical Bulletin 7/03, "Crime in England and Wales 2002/03", which is available via the Research Development Statistics (RDS) website. A copy of the Bulletin has been placed in the Library.
The business crime team within the Home Office has recently begun a process of examining how current information on business crime, including retail crime, can be enhanced. To this end, the Research, Development and Statistics Department have been approached to examine the feasibility of different options. This work is on-going.
However, in view of the complexity and range of crimes experienced by the business sector, it has rapidly become clear that no one single method of collecting data will provide a sufficiently complete picture. We are therefore considering how both police and survey data collection can be refined and extended to give us a more accurate and comprehensive overview of the crimes experienced by businesses.