Mr. Laurence Robertson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the detection rate for (a) reported crimes, (b) violent crimes, (c) burglaries and (d) acts of theft in (i) each police force area and (ii) England and Wales was in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [212631]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 20 June 2008]: The available information is given in the following tables. A number of changes have been made to recorded crime in response to suggestions in the two reviews of crime statistics. One such change is that the term ‘violent crime’ is no longer used in connection with the recorded crime statistics and we now provide figures for violence against the person.
Non-sanction detections that contribute to the overall detection rate have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable. From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstances.
Table 1: Overall detection rates for all recorded offences by police force area 2002-03 to 2006-07
Percentage
Police force area
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
Avon and Somerset
15
15
17
23
24
Bedfordshire
26
23
28
25
22
British Transport Police
15
16
17
20
24
Cambridgeshire
22
23
23
27
25
Cheshire
26
27
26
27
27
Cleveland
23
21
24
30
31
Cumbria
31
32
30
35
36
9 July 2008 : Column 1595W
Derbyshire
26
25
28
27
26
Devon and Cornwall
29
29
30
28
27
Dorset
25
26
28
30
30
Durham
34
29
29
27
30
Dyfed-Powys
68
47
43
45
45
Essex
27
28
27
31
33
Gloucestershire
29
28
27
32
33
Greater Manchester
22
22
23
25
25
Gwent
48
45
42
36
33
Hampshire
30
27
28
24
23
Hertfordshire
23
25
29
26
29
Humberside
20
19
20
23
25
Kent
28
25
23
26
26
Lancashire
27
27
30
32
35
Leicestershire
27
22
25
30
28
Lincolnshire
23
22
25
26
28
London, City of
36
33
36
43
39
Merseyside
25
27
30
28
29
Metropolitan Police
14
15
21
24
21
Norfolk
24
26
28
31
30
Northamptonshire
28
28
29
25
26
Northumbria
31
30
29
35
40
North Wales
29
33
42
43
48
North Yorkshire
26
28
35
35
33
Nottinghamshire
16
18
20
22
23
South Wales
29
29
29
26
25
South Yorkshire
21
24
26
27
26
Staffordshire
31
33
35
35
35
Suffolk
34
33
32
30
31
Surrey
22
22
26
25
30
Sussex
24
24
25
30
31
Thames Valley
25
23
26
28
25
Warwickshire
26
25
27
25
27
West Mercia
33
31
34
34
34
West Midlands
26
25
23
26
27
West Yorkshire
20
20
25
28
29
Wiltshire
28
28
29
32
26
England and Wales
23
23
26
27
27
Note:
It should be noted that non-sanction detections that contribute to the overall detection rate have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable. From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstances.
