§ Tom CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reported cases involving domestic violence there were in England and Wales in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [174490]
§ Ms BlearsDomestic violence is not separately identified in the recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office nor in the statistics of court proceedings, because the circumstances of the offences are not collected.
However, the British Crime Survey (BCS) routinely collects data on the prevalence and number of incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales from the main "face-to-face" part of the survey. In the 2002–03 BCS there were an estimated 501,000 incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales as a whole. 35 per cent. of these cases were reported to the police.