1998 1999 - Nationalarchives.gov.uk

Issue 18/99 12 October 1999 

Recorded Crime Statistics 

England and Wales, April 1998 to March 1999 

By David Povey and Julian Prime 

Recorded crime is counted and classified according to Home Office rules. A new set of rules was 

introduced in April 1998, and the main changes are described in Annex A of this bulletin. All the 

commentary on April 1998 to March 1999 levels in this bulletin use these new rules. However, all the trends 

between this period and previous years have been calculated using the old rules (except where stated). 

MAIN POINTS 

In the twelve months to March 1999, 84 

per cent of offences recorded by the 

police were against property; 12 per cent 

were violent crimes. (Figure 1 below) 

Offences of violence against the person 

showed a 10 per cent fall; however sexual 

offences rose by 2 per cent and robberies 

increased by 6 per cent. (Paragraphs 3(c-e)) 

Both theft of vehicles and theft from 

vehicles fell by 2 per cent. (Paragraph 2(e)) 

Domestic burglary fell by 6 per cent, with 

non-domestic burglary falling by 2 per 

cent. (Paragraph 2(c)) 

29 per cent of all crimes, including two 

thirds of violent crimes, were cleared up 

during 1998/99. (Paragraphs 5(c-d)) 

Half of all detected crimes were cleared 

up using a charge or summons, whilst 

less than one in twelve were cleared up 

by interviewing a convicted prisoner. 

(Paragraphs 5(j) and 5(l)) 

Figure 1 NOTIFIABLE OFFENCES RECORDED BY THE POLICE 

12 months ending March 1999 

Violent crime 12% 

605,803 offences 

Other offences 1% 


Burglary 19% 


Other property 

offences 23% 

1,159,077 offences 

Theft of and from 

vehicles 21% 

1,077,732 offences 

Drug offences 3% 


Other theft 22% 

1,113,724 offences

1. RECORDED CRIME (TABLES A, 1; FIGURES 1, 2) 

Table A Notifiable offences recorded by the police by offence 

England and Wales Number of offences and percentages 

Offence group 

12 months ending 

March 1998 March 1999 March 1999 

Old rules (1) New rules (1) 

2 

Underlying trend (2) 

Number Percentage 

Violence against the person 256,070 230,756 502,793 -25,314 (+12,424) -9.9% (+5.1%) 

Sexual offences 34,151 34,915 36,174 +764 (+2,031) +2.2% (+6.3%) 

Robbery 62,652 66,172 66,836 +3,520 (-9,614) +5.6% (-13.3%) 

Total violent crime 352,873 331,843 605,803 -21,030 (+4,841) -6.0% (+1.4%) 

Burglary 988,432 951,878 953,187 -36,554 (-138,595) -3.7% (-12.3%) 

Total theft & handling stolen goods 2,144,973 2,126,718 2,191,456 -18,255 (-178,726) -0.9% (-7.7%) 

Theft of and from vehicles 1,096,022 1,071,828 1,077,732 -24,194 (-149,030) -2.2% (-12.0%) 

Fraud and forgery 136,232 173,728 279,505 +37,496 (+257) +27.5% (+0.2%) 

Criminal damage 861,846 834,370 879,572 -27,476 (-76,889) -3.2% (-8.2%) 

Total property crime 4,131,483 4,086,694 4,303,720 -44,789 (-393,953) -1.1% (-8.7%) 

Drug offences 23,336 21,306 135,945 -2,030 (+685) -8.7% (+3.0%) 

Other notifiable offences 37,645 41,974 63,636 +4,329 (+3,086) +11.5% (+8.9%) 

Total all offences 4,545,337 4,481,817 5,109,104 -63,520 (-385,341) -1.4% (-7.8%) 

(1) ‘Old rules’ denotes the number of crimes that would have been recorded using the coverage and rules in use until 31 March 

1998. ‘New rules’ denotes crimes recorded using the expanded offence coverage and revised counting rules which came into 

effect on 1 April 1998. 

(2) Underlying trend is calculated using the old rule crime figures. Trends for the previous 12 months are shown in brackets. 


Percentage change 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

-5 

-10 

-15 

-6 

9 

Underlying trend from the previous year (rounded) 

All notifiable offences 

18 

15 

4 

-4 

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 


25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

-5 

-10 

-15 

-10 

7 

23 

20 

-5 

12 months ending March 

Burglary 

9 

-4 


-7 


-0.1 

-0.2 

-9 

-4 

-8 

-12 

-4 

-1 


25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

-5 

-10 

-15 

7 

9 

4 

Violent crime 

8 

6 

4 



25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

-5 

-10 

-15 

-8 


Theft of and from vehicles 

10 

24 

14 

3 

-5 


1 

-9 

5 

-1 


9 

-6 

1 

-12 

-6 

-2

(a) A number of changes to the way that the police count and record crimes took 

effect on 1 April 1998. Full details of these changes, together with their effect on the 

notifiable offence categories, are given in Annex A. Where trends are discussed in 

this bulletin, we have calculated the underlying trend where the effect of the counting 

rule and coverage changes has been removed (i.e. comparisons are made on the ‘old 

rules’ basis). 

(b) The collective term “Recorded Crime” refers to notifiable offences recorded by 

the police (see also note 1 on page 24). These offences cover a wide range of 

crimes, from homicides to minor thefts and damage. It is essential that when different 

offences are combined, the seriousness of the component crimes is borne in mind. 

(c) In the twelve months ending March 1999, a total of 5.1 million offences were 

recorded by the police in England and Wales. The trend in recorded offences shows 

a 1.4 per cent reduction compared to the previous twelve months, and this represents 

the sixth consecutive fall in the financial year figures. 

(d) The majority of crimes were property offences (burglary, theft, fraud and 

forgery, criminal damage). These offences accounted for 4.3 million or 84 per cent of 

all recorded crime, and include 1,078,000 thefts of and from vehicles and 473,000 

domestic burglaries. 

(e) Violent crimes (violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery) 

accounted for 12 per cent (605,800) of all offences recorded during this period. Of the 

502,800 offences of violence against the person, 151,500 were common assaults, 

which are now covered by the new counting rules. 

(f) Of the remaining 199,600 other notifiable offences, 135,900 were drug related, 

18,600 were public order offences, and 9,300 involved perverting the course of justice. 

2. PROPERTY OFFENCES (TABLES A, 3, 6; FIGURES 1, 2, 3) 

(a) The number of property offences fell by 1.1 per cent, with 4.3 million offences 

recorded during 1998/99. This is the sixth consecutive financial year decrease in 

property offences, which have fallen from a record number of 5.3 million during 

1992/93. 

(b) There were decreases in many offence groups within property crime; however 

fraud and forgery, arson, and the theft from the person groups showed large 

increases. 

3

(c) Burglary offences make up 22 per cent of all recorded property crimes. During 

1998/99 domestic burglaries fell by 5.7 per cent (473,400 offences were recorded), 

with non-domestic burglaries falling by 1.6 per cent to 479,800 offences. Despite falls 

during the past six years, the total number of burglaries recorded is still 19 per cent 

higher than ten years ago. 

(d) Thefts made up 51 per cent of all recorded property crimes. During 1998/99 

recorded thefts fell by 0.9 per cent to 2,191,500 thefts - the sixth consecutive financial 

year fall. However, theft offences are still 12 per cent higher than ten years ago. 

(e) Within the theft offence group, thefts of and from vehicles decreased by 2.2 per 

cent to 1,077,700 thefts. Thefts from vehicles decreased by 2.1 per cent to 685,900 

while thefts of vehicles fell by 2.4 per cent to 391,800. Although this is the sixth 

consecutive decrease in thefts of and from vehicles there were still 10 per cent more 

such crimes recorded than 10 years ago. In addition since April 1998, 48,000 

offences of vehicle interference and tampering and 354,700 offences of criminal 

damage to a motor vehicle were recorded. The inclusion of the interference and 

tampering offence category may have indirectly reduced the number of attempted 

vehicle thefts recorded by some police force areas, owing to the difficulty of 

distinguishing crimes of vehicle interference from attempted thefts. 

(f) Offences of thefts from the person rose by 8.9 per cent to 63,100 during 

1998/99 –more than reversing the small fall recorded during the previous year. Thefts 

from shops increased by 2.9 per cent to 282,000. Thefts of pedal cycles decreased for 

the seventh financial year running – the 10.6 per cent fall reduced the total to 128,600 

offences. 

(g) Fraud and forgery offences rose by 27.5 per cent. This is after the exclusion of 

the effect of the new counting rules, which now allows the recording of unreported 

cheque and credit card fraud offences that are discovered by the police in subsequent 

investigation. In some forces the change in counting rules has coincided with a review 

of recording practices for cheque and credit card fraud offences. These reviews have 

resulted in more reported offences being recorded, thus causing increases in recorded 

offences that are not directly attributable to the new rules. 

(h) There were 879,600 criminal damage offences recorded in 1998/99, a fall of 

3.2 per cent on the previous year. This total contained 47,300 arson offences and 

3,300 threats to commit criminal damage. Forty-three per cent of the remaining 

criminal damage was against vehicles, 27 per cent against dwellings, 19 per cent 

against other buildings, and 11 per cent against other “objects” such as bus shelters 

and post boxes. 

4

Figure 3 UNDERLYING TREND IN NOTIFIABLE OFFENCES 

Twelve months ending March 1999 compared to previous twelve months 

All offences 

Theft from vehicle 

Theft of vehicle 

Theft from shop 

Theft from person 

Theft of pedal cycle 

Other theft & handling 

Burglary in dwelling 

Burglary other 

Criminal damage 

Fraud and forgery 

Violence against the person 

Sexual offences 

Robbery 

Drug offences 

Other offences 

-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 


3. VIOLENT CRIME (TABLES A, 1, 3, 6; FIGURES 1, 2, 3, 4) 

(a) A total of 605,800 violent offences were recorded by the police during 1998/99, 

a trend reduction of 6.0 per cent on the total recorded in 1998/99. This follows rises of 

8.9 per cent and 1.4 per cent in the previous two years. 

(b) The most common violent crime category was violence against the person, 

which accounted for 83 per cent of all recorded violent crime. Robberies comprised 

11 per cent of violent offences, whilst the remaining 6 per cent were sexual offences. 

Homicide offences (which comprise murder, manslaughter and infanticide) accounted 

for 0.1 per cent of all violent crime. 

(c) There were 502,800 offences of violence against the person recorded during 

1998/99. More serious offences of violence, i.e. those which are life threatening, 

numbered 27,000; within this category there were 750 homicides, 2 deaths more than 

during the previous year. 475,700 less serious offences of violence were recorded; 

nearly one-third of these offences were the newly notifiable offence of common 

assault. Over 79,500 offences of harassment were recorded. The underlying trend for 

all violence against the person offences shows a 9.9 per cent fall since 1997/98. 

5

However the underlying trend may overstate the reduction. This is because the trend 

figure has been calculated by eliminating the effect of the counting rule changes, 

which we have assumed to be the introduction of common assault and assault on a 

constable into the coverage in April 1998. This has not been totally correct, as the 

recording of some assaults involving minor injuries ‘switched’ from other wounding to 

common assault in April 1998 as a result of a change in Home Office guidance. 

Figure 4 OFFENCES OF VIOLENCE 

Twelve months ending March 1999 

Less serious offences of 

violence 79% 


(d) The number of sexual offences recorded in 1998/99 increased by 2.2 per cent, 

which is similar to the average increase during the last ten years. The increase during 

1998/99 included a 9.4 per cent rise in offences of rape with a female victim, and a 

33.9 per cent rise in male rape. The number of recorded rapes has risen by 144 per 

cent in the last ten years, which is thought to be partly due to an increase in the rate of 

reporting and recording of these offences. 

(e) Robbery offences increased by 5.6 per cent to 66,800. This follows a 13.3 per 

cent fall during the previous year. Over the last ten years, the number of robberies 

has more than doubled. Robberies of business property accounted for 16 per cent of 

the total, with the remainder being robberies of personal property – mainly muggings. 

6 

Sexual offences 6% 


Robbery 11% 


Homicide and other more 

serious offences of 

violence 4% 

27,047 offences

4. POLICE FORCE AREAS (TABLES 2, 3, 4, 5; FIGURES 5, 6) 

(a) Twenty nine of the forty three police forces in England and Wales had an 

underlying reduction between 1997/98 and 1998/99 in the total number of crimes 

recorded; during the previous financial year 41 force areas recorded fewer crimes. 

(b) Metropolitan forces (see note 4) recorded 0.8 per cent more crimes in 

1998/99 than in 1997/98 whilst the non-metropolitan forces recorded 3.1 per cent 

fewer crimes. Ten years ago, approximately the same number of crimes were 

recorded in metropolitan areas as in non-metropolitan areas. However, since 

1988/89 the proportion of crime recorded by metropolitan forces has fallen to 45.4 

per cent of the total. This follows increases in total recorded crime over the ten year 

period of 11.4 per cent in metropolitan areas and 31.4 per cent in non-metropolitan 

areas. There has been a small shift in resident population from metropolitan to nonmetropolitan 

areas, but this has been insufficient to explain the larger falls in crime. 

(c) Of the metropolitan forces, four showed underlying trend falls. The largest fall 

was 1.4 per cent in Northumbria, and is the only force to have recorded seven 

consecutive financial year falls. The City of London force showed the largest 

increase; however the 17.5 per cent rise in this force was dwarfed by the underlying 

1.3 per cent fall in the surrounding Metropolitan Police District. 

(d) Changes in non-metropolitan areas ranged from a decrease of 10 per cent in 

Lancashire, to an increase of 5 per cent in Thames Valley. Nine non-metropolitan 

forces recorded decreases of over 5 per cent. 

(e) The number of offences recorded in each police force area per 100,000 

resident population is shown in Table 2. The forces with the highest recorded crime 

rates are mainly the metropolitan police force areas and other forces which include 

large conurbations; the lowest rates are mainly in rural areas. 

(f) The highest rate was in Humberside with 14,800 offences per 100,000 

population, followed by Greater Manchester (14,100), Nottinghamshire (13,100) and 

West Yorkshire (13,000). In contrast, the lowest rates were in Dyfed-Powys (5,100), 

Surrey (5,400) and Hertfordshire (5,700). 

(g) Some of the differences between police force areas in the rates of recorded 

crime may be due to extraneous factors. These factors include the victims of crimes 

recorded in a police force area not living in that area (particularly so in metropolitan 

areas), together with differing reporting rates of offences to the police and recording 

practices within police force areas. 

7


Underlying trend between the twelve months ending 

March 1999 and the previous twelve months by police force area 

More than 2% increase 

0 to 2% increase 

0 to 2% decrease 

Between 2% and 4% decrease 

More than 4% decrease 

Dyfed-Powys 

Devon and Cornwall 

North Wales 

South Wales 

Cumbria 

Merseyside 

Gwent 

Lancashire 

Cheshire 

Avon and Somerset 

Northumbria 

Dorset 

8 

Durham 

Greater Manchester 

West Mercia 

North Yorkshire 

West Yorkshire 

Staffordshire 

Gloucestershire 

Derbyshire 

Cleveland 

South Yorkshire 

West Midlands 

Warwickshire 

Wiltshire 

Nottinghamshire 

Leicestershire 

Hampshire 

Humberside 

Lincolnshire 

Northamptonshire 

Thames Valley 

Cambridgeshire 

Bedfordshire 

Hertfordshire 

Essex 

Metropolitan and City 

Surrey 

Sussex 

Norfolk 

Suffolk 

Kent

Figure 6 NOTIFIABLE OFFENCES IN METROPOLITAN AND 

3,500,000 

3,000,000 

2,500,000 

2,000,000 

1,500,000 

1,000,000 

500,000 

0 

NON-METROPOLITAN POLICE FORCE AREAS 

Metropolitan 

forces 

Non-Metropolitan 

forces 



5. OFFENCES CLEARED UP (TABLES B, 5, 6; FIGURE 7) 

(a) The introduction of the new counting rules and offence coverage on 1 April 

1998 had a knock-on effect on the number of crimes detected by the police during the 

year. A number of the newly notifiable offences, such as drug possession, common 

assault, and dangerous driving have relatively high clear-up rates which have 

increased the overall clear-up rate. However, all offences of criminal damage are now 

included within the clear-up rate; previously offences where the damage was valued 

at £20 or under were excluded. This will have reduced the overall clear-up rate. 

(b) It has not been possible to obtain accurate figures for 1998/99 clear-ups on the 

old rules basis. Therefore, all trend comparisons in this section do not exclude the 

effects of the new counting rules. 

(c) The proportion of offences cleared up during 1998/99 – at 29 per cent – was 1 

percentage point higher than during 1997/98. The total number of offences cleared up 

at 1,492,300 was 240,600 higher than during the previous financial year. 

(d) A high proportion of violent crimes are cleared up. Overall, 66 per cent of 

violent crime was cleared up during 1998/99; however this is a reduction of 3 

percentage points since 1997/98. Within this total figure, offences of violence against 

the person and sexual offences had clear-up rates of 71 and 68 per cent respectively. 

The rate for robbery was 23 per cent. 

9

Figure 7 CLEAR-UP RATES BY TYPE OF OFFENCE, 1998/99 

Homicide 

Violence against the person 

Sexual offences 

Robbery 

Burglary 

Theft of and from vehicles 

Total theft 

Fraud and forgery 

Criminal damage 

All offences 

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 

(e) Within violence against the person, 95 per cent of homicides and 89 per cent of 

attempted murders were cleared up during 1998/99. The clear-up rate for rape 

offences – at 64 per cent – was the lowest rate since 1986. 

(f) Offences for which a low proportion were cleared up include theft from a person 

(9 per cent), pedal cycle theft and vehicle interference/tampering (8 per cent). Other 

offences for which less than one in five were cleared up were non-residential burglary, 

theft of a vehicle, theft from a vehicle, other theft, arson, and criminal damage. 

Together these offences comprise over three-fifths of all recorded crimes. 

(g) Clear-up rates varied widely among forces, from 22 per cent in the Metropolitan 

Police District and Humberside to 69 per cent in Dyfed-Powys. However, comparisons 

may reflect differences in the types of offences between areas and variations in 

recording practice. 

(h) There are several methods of clearing up a crime (see table 5); these can be 

divided into two main groups, “primary clear-ups” and “secondary clear-ups”. A full 

explanation of the definitions used is given in note 5 on page 24. In 1998/99 26 per 

cent of recorded crimes were cleared up by primary means, representing 90 per cent 

of all clear-ups, compared with 84 per cent during 1997/98. 

10

Table B Notifiable offences recorded (1) and offences cleared up (2) 


Year Number 

recorded 

11 

Cleared up 


Total Primary Secondary Total Primary Secondary 

1994/95 4,929,209 1,297,272 1,015,870 281,402 26% 21% 6% 

1995/96 4,921,597 1,291,466 1,020,248 271,218 26% 21% 6% 

1996/97 4,760,144 1,292,316 1,052,281 240,035 27% 22% 5% 

1997/98 4,428,758 1,251,707 1,054,033 197,674 28% 24% 4% 

1998/99 5,109,104 1,492,265 1,347,772 144,493 29% 26% 3% 

(1) Excluding criminal damage of £20 and under prior to 1998/99. 

(2) See note 5 on page 24. 

(i) In thirty-one forces over 85 per cent of clear-ups were by primary means. By 

contrast there were two forces in which secondary clear-ups made up over onequarter 

of all clear-ups (South Yorkshire and South Wales). 

(j) Looking at the method of clear-up in more detail, the most common was a 

charge or summons; a total of 755,800 offences – more than one half of all those 

detected - were cleared up in this way. In seven forces one fifth or more of all 

offences were cleared up using a charge or summons, although six forces cleared up 

less than one in eight offences by this method. 

(k) Five per cent of notifiable offences were cleared up by means of a caution, 

although Dyfed-Powys cleared up 15 per cent this way. 

(l) Three per cent of all offences were cleared up by secondary means, within 

which the most common method was by interview of convicted prisoners. Although 

nationally just two per cent of crimes were cleared up in this way, there was 

considerable variation amongst forces. This is largely as a result of differing force 

policies on using this method.

Table 1 Notifiable offences recorded by the police by offence 

England and Wales 

Offence group April 1994 April 1995 April 1996 April 1997 

to to to to 

March 1995 March 1996 March 1997 March 1998 

Number of offences 

March 1999 


Violence against the person 212,134 219,291 243,646 256,070 230,756 502,793 

Sexual offences 31,177 29,887 32,120 34,151 34,915 36,174 

Robbery 60,431 70,497 72,266 62,652 66,172 66,836 

Total violent crime 303,742 319,675 348,032 352,873 331,843 605,803 

Burglary 

Burglary in a dwelling 661,194 638,631 581,985 501,593 472,960 473,352 

Burglary other than in a dwelling 575,791 595,843 545,042 486,839 478,918 479,835 

Total burglary 1,236,985 1,234,474 1,127,027 988,432 951,878 953,187 

Theft & handling of stolen goods 

Theft from the person 52,309 60,347 59,352 57,894 63,054 63,118 

Theft of pedal cycle 172,324 168,482 147,160 140,031 125,178 128,558 

Theft from shops 269,652 282,452 278,050 273,509 281,457 281,972 

Theft from vehicle 827,196 817,229 778,269 695,498 680,937 685,921 

Theft of motor vehicle 524,094 513,927 466,783 400,524 390,891 391,811 

Theft of & from vehicles 1,351,290 1,331,156 1,245,052 1,096,022 1,071,828 1,077,732 

Vehicle interference and tampering N / A N / A N / A N / A N / A 48,011 

Other theft & handling stolen goods 662,386 623,867 594,085 577,517 585,201 592,065 

Total theft & handling stolen goods 2,507,961 2,466,304 2,323,699 2,144,973 2,126,718 2,191,456 

Fraud and forgery 140,180 134,394 135,975 136,232 173,728 279,505 

Criminal damage 909,359 932,719 938,735 861,846 834,370 879,572 

Drug offences 19,172 21,659 22,651 23,336 21,306 135,945 

Other notifiable offences 28,984 30,082 34,559 37,645 41,974 63,636 

Total all offences 5,146,383 5,139,307 4,930,678 4,545,337 4,481,817 5,109,104 

Violence against the person 1.3 3.4 11.1 5.1 -9.9 

Sexual offences -3.7 -4.1 7.5 6.3 2.2 

Robbery 3.7 16.7 2.5 -13.3 5.6 

Total violent crime 1.2 5.2 8.9 1.4 -6.0 

Burglary 

Burglary in a dwelling -6.6 -3.4 -8.9 -13.8 -5.7 

Burglary other than in a dwelling -7.5 3.5 -8.5 -10.7 -1.6 

Total burglary -7.0 -0.2 -8.7 -12.3 -3.7 

Theft & handling of stolen goods 

Percentage change from corresponding period in previous year 

Theft from the person 6.5 15.4 -1.6 -2.5 8.9 

Theft of pedal cycle -6.5 -2.2 -12.7 -4.8 -10.6 

Theft from shops -1.1 4.7 -1.6 -1.6 2.9 

Theft from vehicle -8.3 -1.5 -4.8 -10.6 -2.1 

Theft of motor vehicle -10.2 -1.2 -9.2 -14.2 -2.4 

Theft of & from vehicles -9.0 -1.9 -6.5 -12.0 -2.2 

Other theft & handling stolen goods -5.7 -5.8 -4.8 -2.8 1.3 

Total theft & handling stolen goods -6.9 -1.7 -5.8 -7.7 -0.9 

Fraud and forgery -11.6 -4.1 1.2 0.2 27.5 

Criminal damage -0.3 2.6 0.6 -8.2 -3.2 

Drug offences 23.1 13.0 4.6 3.0 -8.7 

Other notifiable offences 5.8 3.8 14.9 8.9 11.5 

Total all offences -5.4 -0.1 -4.1 -7.8 -1.4 

(1) 'Old rules' denotes the number of crimes that would have been recorded using the coverage and rules in use until 31 March 1998. 

'New rules' denotes crimes recorded using the expanded offence coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998. 

12 

April 1998 

to

Table 2 Notifiable offences recorded by the police by police force area 

England and Wales Number of offences, percentages and rate per 100,000 population 

Police force area April 1997 April 1998 


Offences per 100,000 

to to 

population; April 1998 

March 1998 March 1999 

Number Percentage to March 1999 

Old rules (1) New rules (1) New rules (1) 

Avon and Somerset 144,556 131,955 150,089 -12,601 -8.7 10,153 

Bedfordshire 45,250 43,947 49,076 -1,303 -2.9 8,886 

Cambridgeshire 58,864 59,678 67,256 814 1.4 9,443 

Cheshire 60,716 59,414 65,119 -1,302 -2.1 6,631 

Cleveland 63,634 63,726 67,030 92 0.1 12,059 

Cumbria 35,777 35,171 40,202 -606 -1.7 8,169 

Derbyshire 74,436 74,047 84,459 -389 -0.5 8,748 

Devon and Cornwall 92,800 88,484 110,644 -4,316 -4.7 7,132 

Dorset 43,536 43,903 52,755 367 0.8 7,673 

Durham 47,311 44,178 50,413 -3,133 -6.6 8,287 

Essex 89,380 87,147 95,797 -2,233 -2.5 6,290 

Gloucestershire 46,044 44,000 48,206 -2,044 -4.4 8,619 

Greater Manchester 315,000 336,172 362,450 21,172 6.7 14,093 

Hampshire 121,042 115,008 128,253 -6,034 -5.0 7,277 

Hertfordshire 49,426 46,255 49,309 -3,171 -6.4 5,657 

Humberside 123,722 119,290 130,691 -4,432 -3.6 14,772 

Kent 118,892 110,244 129,340 -8,648 -7.3 8,259 

Lancashire 116,947 105,161 118,117 -11,786 -10.1 8,288 

Leicestershire 81,183 81,714 93,397 531 0.7 10,053 

Lincolnshire 41,792 39,718 46,670 -2,074 -5.0 7,535 

London, City of (3) 5,137 6,035 7,144 898 17.5 N/A 

Merseyside 125,312 130,606 140,874 5,294 4.2 9,967 

Metropolitan Police (3) 778,279 767,880 934,254 -10,399 -1.3 12,354 

Norfolk 52,580 51,167 57,129 -1,413 -2.7 7,296 

Northamptonshire 53,645 55,842 65,466 2,197 4.1 10,727 

Northumbria 134,457 132,588 151,298 -1,869 -1.4 10,579 

North Yorkshire 50,297 48,372 55,309 -1,925 -3.8 7,498 

Nottinghamshire 125,097 123,680 135,255 -1,417 -1.1 13,104 

South Yorkshire 125,907 124,427 133,059 -1,480 -1.2 10,200 

Staffordshire 89,820 84,495 91,919 -5,325 -5.9 8,669 

Suffolk 35,262 34,280 39,908 -982 -2.8 5,987 

Surrey 38,015 36,376 42,467 -1,639 -4.3 5,414 

Sussex 110,320 111,468 130,402 1,148 1.0 8,767 

Thames Valley 154,014 161,646 176,477 7,632 5.0 8,461 

Warwickshire 35,604 35,659 38,485 55 0.2 7,642 

West Mercia 75,330 69,451 81,782 -5,879 -7.8 7,261 

West Midlands 277,970 276,512 314,611 -1,458 -0.5 11,959 

West Yorkshire 242,646 246,438 273,809 3,792 1.6 12,976 

Wiltshire 32,831 32,984 38,189 153 0.5 6,372 

Dyfed-Powys 17,994 17,858 24,588 -136 -0.8 5,145 

Gwent 47,043 47,381 58,738 338 0.7 10,547 

North Wales 38,658 36,570 43,848 -2,088 -5.4 6,684 

South Wales 128,811 120,890 134,820 -7,921 -6.1 10,906 

Total met-forces 2,004,708 2,020,658 2,317,499 15,950 0.8 12,146 

Total non-met forces 2,540,629 2,461,159 2,791,605 -79,470 -3.1 8,426 

Total 4,545,337 4,481,817 5,109,104 -63,520 -1.4 9,785 



(2) Underlying trend is calculated using the old rule counting figures. 

(3) Offences per 100,000 population for City of London and Metropolitian Police are combined. 

13

Table 3 Notifiable offences by police force area and offence - 12 months ending March 1999 

England and Wales Number of offences 

Police force area Total Violence Sexual Robbery Burglary Theft Fraud Criminal Drug Other Vehicle 

against offences and and damage offences offences crime (1) 

person 

the handling forgery 

Avon and Somerset 150,089 12,333 821 1,831 29,194 72,069 9,950 20,605 2,145 1,141 48,403 

Bedfordshire 49,076 4,794 344 530 7,129 22,581 4,114 7,893 1,141 550 15,407 

Cambridgeshire 67,256 5,345 431 437 12,759 31,953 2,389 11,925 1,166 851 19,861 

Cheshire 65,119 6,601 625 397 13,125 26,925 2,146 11,596 2,470 1,234 17,304 

Cleveland 67,030 2,960 369 908 16,526 31,755 2,261 10,681 1,120 450 19,395 

Cumbria 40,202 5,582 200 119 5,812 16,504 1,388 8,405 1,621 571 10,587 

Derbyshire 84,459 8,509 556 504 16,720 36,742 4,200 14,316 1,689 1,223 25,117 

Devon and Cornwall 110,644 11,758 876 462 17,808 49,787 7,064 17,722 3,873 1,294 32,585 

Dorset 52,755 2,806 314 205 9,202 23,993 6,334 8,303 1,102 496 16,294 

Durham 50,413 4,955 243 172 10,135 20,323 1,311 11,122 1,388 764 15,201 

Essex 95,797 8,043 877 523 14,997 44,368 4,366 18,834 2,312 1,477 29,772 

Gloucestershire 48,206 3,230 344 273 10,111 23,468 2,527 6,570 1,152 531 11,388 

Greater Manchester 362,450 35,841 2,142 7,632 79,179 145,090 15,830 67,052 5,439 4,245 115,690 

Hampshire 128,253 12,599 1,066 588 19,822 57,492 5,130 25,100 4,195 2,261 35,800 

Hertfordshire 49,309 3,313 321 250 8,353 22,935 2,312 10,177 1,197 451 18,765 

Humberside 130,691 9,365 743 839 34,169 57,889 3,582 21,486 1,639 979 36,642 

Kent 129,340 12,409 924 712 22,978 57,314 5,687 23,049 3,891 2,376 39,307 

Lancashire 118,117 10,328 879 982 24,229 49,952 4,448 21,363 4,117 1,819 33,291 

Leicestershire 93,397 9,984 764 967 17,218 38,408 7,227 15,143 1,433 2,253 26,022 

Lincolnshire 46,670 4,239 393 149 10,257 19,328 2,723 7,728 1,229 624 10,847 

London, City of 7,144 510 31 29 520 4,263 862 297 504 128 615 

Merseyside 140,874 12,208 1,019 2,484 26,498 59,044 4,884 27,465 5,620 1,652 40,733 

Metropolitan Police 934,254 131,549 8,102 26,330 123,861 383,665 80,541 136,870 32,152 11,184 229,472 

Norfolk 57,129 5,461 508 220 10,154 25,690 2,488 10,393 1,534 681 14,981 

Northamptonshire 65,466 5,246 306 443 12,162 28,994 4,425 11,771 1,285 834 21,080 

Northumbria 151,298 12,477 943 1,347 31,625 62,314 4,991 31,634 3,934 2,033 45,162 

North Yorkshire 55,309 4,827 297 170 11,237 25,608 2,563 8,372 1,560 675 14,255 

Nottinghamshire 135,255 12,051 949 1,312 28,792 59,864 4,736 23,953 2,004 1,594 37,790 

South Yorkshire 133,059 6,577 654 979 34,370 57,251 3,951 24,198 3,983 1,096 42,896 

Staffordshire 91,919 10,113 566 509 20,391 37,917 3,830 15,668 1,915 1,010 26,283 

Suffolk 39,908 3,820 405 140 6,241 17,097 2,099 7,898 1,581 627 9,468 

Surrey 42,467 4,164 579 171 6,922 17,911 2,994 7,576 1,557 593 10,957 

Sussex 130,402 14,763 911 939 20,934 57,601 7,790 23,828 2,235 1,401 37,429 

Thames Valley 176,477 10,784 879 1,327 30,735 89,616 11,778 26,006 3,838 1,514 61,025 

Warwickshire 38,485 2,063 194 170 8,064 17,655 2,401 6,888 683 367 12,677 

West Mercia 81,782 6,995 618 351 14,631 36,420 3,961 15,346 2,393 1,067 23,499 

West Midlands 314,611 31,019 1,985 7,315 70,624 125,962 15,675 50,390 7,180 4,461 94,870 

West Yorkshire 273,809 16,683 1,774 3,072 67,633 115,328 10,608 49,239 6,720 2,752 87,722 

Wiltshire 38,189 4,390 404 195 6,129 16,805 1,933 6,644 1,199 490 9,480 

Dyfed-Powys 24,588 4,680 317 42 2,615 7,702 1,402 4,497 2,483 850 4,327 

Gwent 58,738 11,355 452 173 8,416 20,727 2,395 11,690 2,447 1,083 15,217 

North Wales 43,848 4,703 334 127 7,226 17,431 1,869 9,652 1,885 621 11,548 

South Wales 134,820 11,361 715 511 23,684 57,715 6,340 30,227 2,934 1,333 51,303 

England and Wales 5,109,104 502,793 36,174 66,836 953,187 2,191,456 279,505 879,572 135,945 63,636 1,480,467 

(1) Vehicle crime includes theft of a vehicle, theft from a vehicle, aggravated vehicle taking, vehicle interference and tampering 

and criminal damage to a vehicle. 

14

Table 4 Notifiable offences recorded by the police: clear-up rate (1) by police force area 

England and Wales Percentages 

Police force area April 1994 April 1995 April 1996 April 1997 April 1998 

to to to to to 

March 1995 March 1996 March 1997 March 1998 March 1999 

Avon and Somerset 21 23 26 26 24 

Bedfordshire 22 24 35 35 33 

Cambridgeshire 23 20 25 28 29 

Cheshire 31 33 34 34 37 

Cleveland 20 25 25 23 23 

Cumbria 39 38 35 41 44 

Derbyshire 22 20 23 26 31 

Devon and Cornwall 28 28 30 34 36 

Dorset 30 28 26 30 31 

Durham 31 30 30 30 33 

Essex 38 33 27 28 29 

Gloucestershire 25 26 22 26 31 

Greater Manchester 34 19 18 20 25 

Hampshire 27 28 29 30 35 

Hertfordshire 24 30 29 33 34 

Humberside 18 19 21 21 22 

Kent 28 28 31 31 34 

Lancashire 35 35 33 29 34 

Leicestershire 31 29 31 34 34 

Lincolnshire 31 42 44 46 40 

London, City of 27 23 26 28 33 

Merseyside 29 28 29 31 31 

Metropolitan Police 24 26 25 25 22 

Norfolk 32 31 34 36 37 

Northamptonshire 30 30 35 35 33 

Northumbria 23 23 25 26 30 

North Yorkshire 24 24 26 26 33 

Nottinghamshire 25 25 29 26 25 

South Yorkshire 24 23 23 32 32 

Staffordshire 31 33 34 34 32 

Suffolk 35 34 33 39 41 

Surrey 31 31 28 35 40 

Sussex 25 29 28 26 25 

Thames Valley 23 23 25 25 25 

Warwickshire 24 25 24 29 26 

West Mercia 29 27 28 27 34 

West Midlands 25 23 24 25 28 

West Yorkshire 21 21 25 27 27 

Wiltshire 35 31 30 32 38 

England 26 26 27 28 28 

Dyfed-Powys 54 57 58 62 69 

Gwent 50 49 51 51 55 

North Wales 38 34 33 36 43 

South Wales 26 31 34 36 39 

Wales 34 36 39 41 46 

England and Wales 26 26 27 28 29 

(1) Excluding offences of 'other criminal damage' of value £20 and under, prior to March 1998. 

15

Table 5 Notifiable offences recorded by the police: percentage cleared up by method of clear-up 

England and Wales 1998/99 Percentages 

Police force area Total offences Percentage 

cleared up of offences Method of clear-up 

cleared up 

Charge Caution TIC Other Primary TIC (not Interview 

or (previously means previously of 

summons recorded) (1) recorded) convicted 

prisoner 

Avon and Somerset 36,698 24 10 3 3 7 23 1 1 

Bedfordshire 16,386 33 13 6 3 7 29 0 4 

Cambridgeshire 19,236 29 13 3 2 5 23 0 5 

Cheshire 24,052 37 26 4 2 3 35 1 1 

Cleveland 15,109 23 15 4 2 1 22 1 0 

Cumbria 17,666 44 23 6 2 10 41 1 2 

Derbyshire 26,172 31 14 7 1 3 25 1 5 

Devon and Cornwall 40,263 36 15 6 2 10 33 0 3 

Dorset 16,193 31 13 3 6 4 26 0 5 

Durham 16,831 33 21 3 2 5 30 1 3 

Essex 27,542 29 15 5 2 4 26 1 2 

Gloucestershire 14,879 31 14 5 4 3 26 1 4 

Greater Manchester 89,080 25 14 4 1 5 24 0 0 

Hampshire 45,138 35 20 6 2 6 33 0 1 

Hertfordshire 16,840 34 15 5 3 5 28 1 5 

Humberside 29,383 22 12 3 1 5 21 0 1 

Kent 44,213 34 16 6 2 7 31 1 2 

Lancashire 40,309 34 21 5 2 3 30 1 3 

Leicestershire 32,003 34 16 4 4 8 31 1 2 

Lincolnshire 18,761 40 19 4 2 9 33 1 6 

London, City of 2,384 33 19 10 1 3 32 0 1 

Merseyside 43,368 31 18 4 2 3 28 1 2 

Metropolitan Police 204,152 22 10 4 1 6 21 0 0 

Norfolk 20,895 37 19 5 2 4 30 1 6 

Northamptonshire 21,793 33 15 4 3 7 30 1 3 

Northumbria 44,796 30 17 6 4 2 29 0 0 

North Yorkshire 17,976 33 20 4 2 4 29 1 3 

Nottinghamshire 33,974 25 14 4 2 1 21 1 3 

South Yorkshire 42,786 32 16 5 1 1 23 0 8 

Staffordshire 29,245 32 17 4 2 5 28 1 3 

Suffolk 16,470 41 17 7 2 9 35 0 6 

Surrey 16,850 40 15 9 2 7 32 0 7 

Sussex 32,995 25 10 4 1 8 24 0 1 

Thames Valley 43,465 25 11 4 1 4 20 1 4 

Warwickshire 10,013 26 12 5 1 4 23 1 2 

West Mercia 27,607 34 17 6 1 4 29 1 4 

West Midlands 89,214 28 15 5 4 3 27 1 0 

West Yorkshire 73,196 27 16 3 4 2 25 0 2 

Wiltshire 14,337 38 19 7 1 7 34 1 3 

Dyfed-Powys 16,890 69 38 15 2 7 62 1 5 

Gwent 32,085 55 25 10 2 10 48 1 6 

North Wales 18,956 43 22 8 1 5 36 1 6 

South Wales 52,064 39 18 3 3 3 27 0 11 

England and Wales 1,492,265 29 15 5 2 5 26 1 2 

(1) See note 5 on page 24. 

16

Table 6 Notifiable offences recorded by the police by offence 


April 1997 

April 1998 Underlying trend (2) 

Clearups 1998/99 

Offence to 

to 


Number Percentage Number Clearup 

Old rules (1) New rules (1) change rate 

1 Murder 

4.1 Manslaughter Homicide 748 750 750 2 0.3 710 94.7 

4.2 Infanticide 

2 Attempted murder 661 676 676 15 2.3 599 88.6 

3 Threat or conspiracy to murder 9,661 11,112 11,212 1,451 15.0 7,777 69.4 

4.3 Child destruction 6 9 9 3 50.0 16 177.8 

4.4 Causing death by dangerous driving 

4.6 Causing death by careless driving when 325 348 349 23 7.1 339 97.1 

under the influence of drink or drugs 

37.1 Causing death by aggravated vehicle taking 18 30 30 12 66.7 20 66.7 

5 Wounding or other act endangering life 12,833 13,960 14,006 1,127 8.8 10,258 73.2 

6 Endangering railway passenger 7 15 15 8 114.3 11 73.3 

More serious offences 24,259 26,900 27,047 2,641 10.9 19,730 72.9 

7 Endangering life at sea 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 

8A Other wounding 196,739 139,692 71.0 

8B Possession of Weapons 231,360 203,313 23,635 -28,047 -12.1 22,307 94.4 

8C Harassment 79,534 64,929 81.6 

11 Cruelty to or neglect of children N / A N / A 2,300 N / A N / A 1,962 85.3 

12 Abandoning a child under the age of two years 54 41 42 -13 -24.1 32 76.2 

13 Child abduction 391 490 502 99 25.3 268 53.4 

14 Procuring illegal abortion 0 2 2 2 200.0 2 100.0 

15 Concealment of birth 6 10 10 4 66.7 7 70.0 

104 Assault on a constable N / A N / A 21,510 N / A N / A 20,847 96.9 

105 Common Assault N / A N / A 151,472 N / A N / A 88,125 58.2 

Less serious offences 231,811 203,856 475,746 -27,955 -12.1 338,171 71.1 

Total violence against the person 256,070 230,756 502,793 -25,314 -9.9 357,901 71.2 

16 Buggery 657 567 566 -90 -13.7 503 88.9 

17 Indecent assault on a male 3,885 3,672 3,683 -213 -5.5 3,092 84.0 

18 Gross indecency between males 483 353 354 -130 -26.9 326 92.1 

19A Rape of a female 6,523 7,139 7,132 616 9.4 4,543 63.7 

19B Rape of a male 375 502 504 127 33.9 340 67.5 

20 Indecent assault on a female 18,979 19,463 19,524 484 2.6 12,169 62.3 

21 Unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 156 153 153 -3 -1.9 126 82.4 

22 Unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 1,084 1,133 1,135 49 4.5 937 82.6 

23 Incest 189 139 139 -50 -26.5 113 81.3 

24 Procuration 142 155 215 13 9.2 204 94.9 

25 Abduction 258 242 240 -16 -6.2 87 36.3 

26 Bigamy 106 126 129 20 18.9 70 54.3 

27 Soliciting or importuning by a man N / A N / A 1,107 N / A N / A 1,021 92.2 

74 Gross indecency with a child 1,314 1,271 1,293 -43 -3.3 1,022 79.0 

Total sexual offences 34,151 34,915 36,174 764 2.2 24,553 67.9 

34A Robbery of business property 62,652 66,172 10,698 3,520 5.6 3,714 34.7 

34B Robbery of personal property 56,138 11,403 20.3 

Total robbery 62,652 66,172 66,836 3,520 5.6 15,117 22.6 

Total violent crime 352,873 331,843 605,803 -21,030 -6.0 397,571 65.6 

17

Table 6 Notifiable offences recorded by the police by offence (continued) 


April 1997 

April 1998 Underlying trend (2) 


Offence to 

to 




change 

Number Clearup 

rate 

28 Burglary in a dwelling 498,578 470,005 470,468 -28,573 -5.7 103,145 21.9 

29 Aggravated burglary in a dwelling 3,015 2,955 2,884 -60 -2.0 1,468 50.9 

30 Burglary in a building other than a dwelling 486,408 478,508 479,425 -7,900 -1.6 78,141 16.3 

31 Aggravated burglary in building other than 

a dwelling 431 410 410 -21 -4.9 162 39.5 

Total burglary 988,432 951,878 953,187 -36,554 -3.7 182,916 19.2 

37.2 Aggravated vehicle taking 8,143 9,811 10,098 1,668 20.5 5,526 54.7 

39 Theft from the person of another 57,894 63,054 63,118 5,160 8.9 5,403 8.6 

40 Theft in a dwelling other than from automatic 

machine or meter 38,765 44,199 44,378 5,434 14.0 14,654 33.0 

41 Theft by an employee 17,476 17,872 17,900 396 2.3 12,761 71.3 

42 Theft or unauthorised taking of mail 3,692 4,919 4,931 1,227 33.2 724 14.7 

43 Abstracting electricity 2,978 2,454 2,454 -524 -17.6 2,125 86.6 

44 Theft of pedal cycle 140,031 125,178 128,558 -14,853 -10.6 10,189 7.9 

45 Theft from vehicle 695,498 680,937 685,921 -14,561 -2.1 69,571 10.1 

46 Theft from shops 273,509 281,457 281,972 7,948 2.9 202,031 71.6 

47 Theft from automatic machine or meter 12,662 15,211 15,343 2,549 20.1 2,987 19.5 

48 Theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicle 392,381 381,080 381,713 -11,301 -2.9 65,931 17.3 

49 Other theft or unauthorised taking 469,592 472,869 479,312 3,277 0.7 58,077 12.1 

54 Handling stolen goods 32,352 27,677 27,747 -4,675 -14.5 26,930 97.1 

126 Vehicle interference and tampering N / A N / A 48,011 N / A N / A 3,845 8.0 

Total theft and handling stolen goods 2,144,973 2,126,718 2,191,456 -18,255 -0.9 480,754 21.9 

51 Fraud by company director 15 39 159 24 160.0 144 90.6 

52 False accounting 1,711 1,203 1,304 -508 -29.7 1,119 85.8 

53A Cheque and credit card fraud 142,311 44,233 31.1 

126,790 165,221 38,431 30.3 

53B Other frauds 122,076 44,998 36.9 

55 Bankruptcy and insolvency offences N / A N / A 23 N / A N / A 10 43.5 

60 Forgery or use of false drug prescription 799 838 842 39 4.9 647 76.8 

61 Other forgery 6,917 6,427 6,762 -490 -7.1 5,096 75.4 

814 Vehicle/driver document fraud N / A N / A 6,028 N / A N / A 5,414 89.8 

Total fraud and forgery 136,232 173,728 279,505 37,496 27.5 101,661 36.4 

56 Arson 32,051 39,636 47,274 7,585 23.7 4,757 10.1 

58A Criminal damage to a dwelling 221,065 43,862 19.8 

58B Criminal damage to a building other 

than a dwelling 827,104 792,275 157,955 -34,829 -4.2 27,535 17.4 

58C Criminal damage to a vehicle 354,724 42,431 12.0 

58D Other criminal damage 95,221 27,537 28.9 

59 Threat etc, to commit criminal damage 2,691 2,459 3,333 -232 -8.6 2,318 69.5 

Total criminal damage 861,846 834,370 879,572 -27,476 -3.2 148,440 16.9 

18

Table 6 Notifiable offences recorded by the police by offence (continued) 


Offence April 1997 

April 1998 



to 

to 


Number Percentage Number Clearup 

Old rules (1) New rules (1) change rate 

92A Trafficking in controlled drugs 23,336 21,306 21,788 -2,030 -8.7 21,514 98.7 

92B Possession of controlled drugs N / A N / A 112,576 N / A N / A 108,391 96.3 

92C Other drug offences N / A N / A 1,581 N / A N / A 1,546 97.8 

Total drug offences 23,336 21,306 135,945 -2,030 -8.7 131,451 96.7 

33 Going equipped for stealing, etc 6,006 5,852 5,866 -154 -2.6 5,550 94.6 

35 Blackmail 927 1,036 1,039 109 11.8 589 56.7 

36 Kidnapping 1,652 2,046 2,049 394 23.8 1,406 68.6 

62 High treason and other offences against 

Treason Acts 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 

63 Treason felony 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 

64 Riot 6 3 2 -3 -50.0 3 150.0 

65 Violent disorder 2,113 2,460 2,500 347 16.4 2,235 89.4 

66 Other offence against the state or public order 16,736 17,334 18,638 598 3.6 16,394 88.0 

67 Perjury 348 314 329 -34 -9.8 271 82.4 

68 Libel 3 3 3 0 0.0 7 233.3 

75 Betting, gaming, lotteries N / A N / A 48 N / A N / A 46 95.8 

76 Aiding suicide 12 8 8 -4 -33.3 7 87.5 

78 Immigration offences N / A N / A 505 N / A N / A 492 97.4 

79 Perverting the course of justice 7,108 9,216 9,265 2,108 29.7 8,329 89.9 

80 Absconding from lawful custody 1,372 1,294 1,301 -78 -5.7 1,261 96.9 

81 Firearms Act offences N / A N / A 3,325 N / A N / A 3,087 92.8 

82 Customs and Revenue offences N / A N / A 119 N / A N / A 98 82.4 

83 Bail offences N / A N / A 66 N / A N / A 63 95.5 

84 Trade Descriptions etc. N / A N / A 263 N / A N / A 256 97.3 

85 Health and Safety offences N / A N / A 7 N / A N / A 4 57.1 

86 Obscene publications, etc. N / A N / A 603 N / A N / A 541 89.7 

87 Protection from eviction N / A N / A 68 N / A N / A 17 25.0 

89 Adulteration of food N / A N / A 69 N / A N / A 54 78.3 

90 Knives Act 1997 offences N / A N / A 99 N / A N / A 93 93.9 

91 Public health offences N / A N / A 9 N / A N / A 4 44.4 

94 Planning laws N / A N / A 2 N / A N / A 0 0.0 

99 Other offences 1,362 2,408 2,537 1,046 76.8 1,871 73.7 

139 Indecent exposure N / A N / A 10,327 N / A N / A 2,664 25.8 

802 Dangerous driving N / A N / A 4,589 N / A N / A 4,130 90.0 

Total other offences 37,645 41,974 63,636 4,329 11.5 49,472 77.7 

Total notifiable offences 4,545,337 4,481,817 5,109,104 -63,520 -1.4 1,492,265 29.2 



(2) Underlying trend is calculated using the old rule counting figures. 

19

ANNEX A 

Assessment of the impact of the counting rule and coverage changes. 

(1) The recorded crime figures in this publication are based on statistical returns 

provided by the 43 police forces in England and Wales. The data are compiled 

using rules for coverage, classification and counting issued by the Home Office. The 

rules maintain consistency between police force areas for recording some of the 

more complex and potentially difficult offences, such as multiple, continuous and 

repeated offences. Periodically, the Home Office rules and police recording 

practices are reviewed to ensure consistency and to determine whether updates are 

necessary. The latest changes took effect on 1 April 1998. 

(2) Under the new counting rules, the statistics wherever possible measure one 

crime per victim; this will greatly improve the comparability between notifiable 

offence figures and victim surveys, such as the British Crime Survey. The main 

impact of the rule changes is on offences contained within the fraud and criminal 

damage groups. The reasoning behind this assessment is that under the previous 

rules: 

• an offence relating to the fraudulent use of a credit card would only be 

recorded by the police if the victim reported the misuse to the police; any 

misuses that the police discovered during an investigation that had not been 

reported to them would not be recorded. With the new rules any fraudulent 

uses would be recorded. 

• criminal damage of a very minor nature (valued at £20 or under) was not 

counted for detection performance purposes, and it is likely that some of 

these offences would not have been recorded. With the new rules all criminal 

damage should be recorded irrespective of value. 

(3) Under the new coverage rules, the notifiable offence umbrella has been 

widened to include all indictable and triable-either-way offences, together with a few 

summary offences which are very closely linked to these offences. All the new offence 

headings can be seen in table 6 of this bulletin. Those which have made a substantial 

impact on the total number of crimes recorded include: 

20

• within violence against the person : cruelty to or neglect of children, assault on a 

constable, and common assault. A number of forces previously recorded some 

common assault crimes as wounding, in line with guidance issued by the 

Association of Chief Police Officers. 

• within sexual offences : soliciting or importuning by a man. 

• within theft and handing : vehicle interference and tampering. 

• within fraud and forgery : vehicle and driver document fraud. 

• within drug offences : possession of controlled drugs, and other (non-trafficking) 

drug offences. 

• within other offences : indecent exposure, dangerous driving, Firearms Act 

offences, and obscene publication offences. 

(4) An assessment has been made of the overall impact of changing the rules 

and coverage. The assessment has been made using two methods. Eighteen 

police force areas undertook the Home Office preferred method of a full double 

counting exercise – i.e. they counted all crimes recorded during 1998/99 using both 

the old counting rules and coverage, as well as using the new rules. The remaining 

forces undertook an exercise designed by the Home Office Research, Development 

and Statistics Directorate to sample a proportion of the offences where the forces 

felt that the new rules would have the greatest impact on them. 95% confidence 

levels for the effect of the changes have been calculated for the forces who 

completed the sampling exercise; this assessment is not applicable for the forces 

which double counted. 

(5) It has not been possible to assess some recording practice changes within 

individual police force areas. For instance a number of forces previously recorded 

very minor injury assaults as woundings; these will now be recorded as common 

assault, and will thus reduce the wounding category. This is also the case for vehicle 

interference – some attempted vehicle thefts may now be recorded as vehicle 

interference, when previously they would have been included within the theft of a 

vehicle category. 

(6) The new rules had different effects on each police force area and on each 

offence group. The reasoning behind this is the differing composition of the offence 

groups within each police force area, together with differing interpretations of the 

previous rules. 

21

(7) The overall effect on the main offence groups is shown below in table A1, 

with the effect on each force area shown in table A2. 

Table A1 Effect of counting rule and offence coverage changes, by offence group 

England and Wales Percentage effect and 95% confidence intervals. 

Offence group 

Effect of new counting rules 

and offence coverage by 

offence group 

22 

Percentage point accuracy 

(95% confidence level) 

Violence against the person + 118% +/- 2.1% 

Sexual offences + 4% +/- 0.0% 

Robbery + 1% +/- 0.1% 

Burglary + 0.1% +/- 0.1% 

All theft & handling + 3% +/- 0.7% 

(inc. theft of and from vehicles) + 1% +/- 0.6% 

Fraud and forgery + 61% +/- 1.8% 

Criminal damage + 5% +/- 1.1% 

Drug offences + 538% +/- 0.0% 

Other offences + 52% +/- 0.0% 

All offences + 14.0% +/- 0.7%

Table A2 Effect of counting rule and offence coverage changes, by police force area 

England and Wales Percentage effect and 95% confidence intervals. 

Police force area 

Effect of new counting rules 

and offence coverage by 

police force area 

23 

Percentage point accuracy 

(95% confidence level) 

Avon and Somerset + 13.7% Nil 

Bedfordshire + 11.7% Nil 

Cambridgeshire + 12.7% +/- 1.9% 

Cheshire + 9.6% Nil 

Cleveland + 5.2% Nil 

Cumbria + 14.3% +/- 1.1% 

Derbyshire + 14.1% +/- 0.8% 

Devon and Cornwall + 25.0% +/- 2.3% 

Dorset + 20.2% Nil 

Durham + 14.1% +/- 2.1% 

Essex + 9.9% Nil 

Gloucestershire + 9.6% +/- 2.3% 

Greater Manchester + 7.8% Nil 

Hampshire + 11.5% Nil 

Hertfordshire + 6.6% +/- 1.3% 

Humberside + 9.6% Nil 

Kent + 17.3% +/- 1.9% 

Lancashire + 12.3% +/- 0.6% 

Leicestershire + 14.3% +/- 1.8% 

Lincolnshire + 17.5% +/- 3.1% 

London City of + 18.4% Nil 

Merseyside + 7.9% +/- 0.4% 

Metropolitan Police + 21.7% Nil 

Norfolk + 11.7% +/- 1.1% 

Northamptonshire + 17.2% Nil 

Northumbria + 14.1% +/- 1.3% 

North Yorkshire + 14.3% +/- 0.8% 

Nottinghamshire + 9.4% Nil 

South Yorkshire + 6.9% Nil 

Staffordshire + 8.8% +/- 1.1% 

Suffolk + 16.4% +/- 3.4% 

Surrey + 16.7% +/- 2.9% 

Sussex + 17.0% +/- 1.7% 

Thames Valley + 9.2% +/- 1.7% 

Warwickshire + 7.9% Nil 

West Mercia + 17.8% +/- 2.0% 

West Midlands + 13.8% +/- 1.8% 

West Yorkshire + 11.1% Nil 

Wiltshire + 15.8% +/- 2.3% 

Dyfed-Powys + 37.7% +/- 3.4% 

Gwent + 24.0% +/- 2.8% 

North Wales + 19.9% Nil 

South Wales + 11.5% Nil 

All police force areas + 14.0% +/- 0.7% 

“Nil” denotes that the police force double counted all crimes during 1998/99 and therefore is not 

subject to sampling error.

NOTES 

1. The recorded crime statistics contain details of notifiable offences which are 

recorded by the police. The coverage and more details of the series of notifiable 

offences can be found in Chapter 2 (which gives figures for 1987-1997) and 

Appendices 2 and 3 of “Criminal statistics, England and Wales, 1997” (Cm 4162). On 

1 April 1998, the coverage of notifiable offences was expanded to include all indictable 

offences, all triable-either-way offences, and closely associated summary offences. 

The guidance rules issued by the Home Office to the police on how to count crime 

were also revised on that date. Further details of the changes, and the way in which 

they have affected the notifiable offence series, are shown in Annex A. 

2. A large proportion of crime is unrecorded, as many offences are not reported to 

the police. The propensity of the public to report offences to the police changes over 

time, and is related to various factors. These include actions of the insurance industry, 

which in some cases: 

- require offences to be reported to the police before claims are considered; 

- relate householders’ premiums to the level of previous claims. 

More details on the level of reporting can be found in reports of the British Crime 

Survey. Results from the 1998 BCS are reported in The 1998 British Crime Survey 

by Catriona Mirrlees-Black, Tracey Budd, Sarah Partridge, and Pat Mayhew, (Home 

Office Statistical Bulletin issue 21/98), which is available from the address shown in 

paragraph 7 below. 

3. Crimes that can be compared between the British Crime Survey and recorded 

crime are burglary, thefts of and from vehicles, theft of a pedal cycle, theft from the 

person, criminal damage, wounding and robbery. 

4. The metropolitan police force areas are taken to be the Metropolitan Police 

District, City of London, West Midlands, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, West 

Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Northumbria. 

5. The definition adopted by the Audit Commission for primary and secondary 

clear-ups has been used. The term “primary clear-up” refers to offences deemed to 

be cleared up by a charge, summons or caution, taken into consideration (where the 

crime was previously recorded) and other methods. “Secondary clear-ups” include 

offences taken into consideration (where the crime was not previously recorded), and 

24

those which involve attributing an offence to someone already charged or convicted of 

another offence. 

6. This bulletin has been prepared by the members of the Recorded Crime 

section which forms part of the Crime and Criminal Justice Unit in the Home Office 

Research, Development and Statistics Directorate. The Crime and Criminal Justice 

Unit would like to acknowledge with thanks the assistance of the police force statistics 

officers and the Home Office Data Collection Unit in providing and collating the 

statistics. If you have any enquiries about the figures in this bulletin, or wish to request 

further analysis of the data (for which there may be a charge), you should contact 

David Povey or any member of his section. The address is: 

Crime and Criminal Justice Unit, 

Research, Development and Statistics Directorate, 

Home Office, 

Room 843, 50 Queen Anne’s Gate, 

London, SW1H 9AT. 

telephone: 020 7273 2711. 

7. Additional copies of this bulletin, together with other Research, Development 

and Statistics Directorate publications, can be obtained by contacting: 

RDS Information and Publications Group, 

Home Office, 

Room 201, 50 Queen Anne’s Gate, 


telephone: 020 7273 2084. 

e-mail: rds.ho@gtnet.gov.uk 

Many RDS publications are also downloadable from our website at: 

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/publf.htm 

25

8. Press enquiries should be made to: 

Home Office Press Office, 

Communication Directorate, 

50 Queen Anne’s Gate, 


telephone: 020 7273 4600 

9. The next edition of the notifiable offence bulletin, containing data for the twelve 

months ending September 1999, will be published on 11 January 2000. 

26

RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND STATISTICS DIRECTORATE 

MISSION STATEMENT 

1999 

RDS is part of the Home Office. The Home Office’s purpose is to build a safe, just 

and tolerant society in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families 

and communities are properly balanced and the protection and security of the public 

are maintained. 

RDS is also a part of the Government Statistical Service (GSS). One of the GSS 

aims is to inform Parliament and the citizen about the state of the nation and provide 

a window on the work and performance of government, allowing the impact of 

government policies and actions to be assessed. 

Therefore - 

Research Development and Statistics Directorate exists to improve policy 

making, decision taking and practice in support of the Home Office purpose 

and aims, to provide the public and Parliament with information necessary for 

informed debate and to publish information for future use. 

27

HOME OFFICE STATISTICAL BULLETINS ISSUED IN THE PAST YEAR 

ISSUE DATE TITLE 

18/98 17.09.98 Cautions, Court Proceedings and Sentencing, England and Wales 

1997. 

19/98 25.09.98 Statistics of Mentally Disordered Offenders in England and Wales 

1997. 

20/98 24.09.98 Police Complaints and Discipline, England and Wales, April 1997 

to March 1998. 

21/98 13.10.98 The 1998 British Crime Survey. 

22/98 13.10.98 Notifiable Offences, England and Wales, April 1997 to March 1998. 

23/98 22.10.98 Liquor Licensing – Children’s Certificates, England and Wales, 

July 1997 – June 1998. 

24/98 29.10.98 Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom, First Half 1998. 

25/98 03.11.98 Fire Statistics, United Kingdom 1997. 

26/98 19.11.98 Firearm Certificate Statistics, England and Wales 1997. 

27/98 10.12.98 Liquor Licensing, England and Wales, July 1997 – June 1998. 

1/99 20.01.99 Projections of Long Term Trends in the Prison Population to 2006. 

2/99 22.01.99 Operations of Certain Police Powers under PACE, England and 

Wales, 1997/8. 

3/99 04.03.99 Statistics on the Operation of Prevention of Terrorism Legislation, 

Great Britain 1998. 

4/99 11.03.99 Burglary of Domestic Dwellings: Findings from the British Crime 

Survey. 

5/99 19.04.99 Reconvictions of offenders sentenced or discharged from prison in 

1994, England and Wales. 

6/99 20.04.99 Persons granted British Citizenship, United Kingdom 1998. 

7/99 22.04.99 Statistics of Deaths Reported to Coroners: England and Wales 1998. 

8/99 29.04.99 Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics, United Kingdom 1997. 

9/99 25.05.99 Fire Statistics, Estimates, United Kingdom 1998. 

10/99 27.05.99 Asylum Statistics, United Kingdom 1998. 

11/99 27.05.99 Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom, Second Half and 

Year 1998. 

12/99 28.05.99 Motoring Offences, England and Wales 1997. 

13/99 28.07.99 Review of Comparative Costs and Performance of Privately and 

Publicly Operated Prisons 1997-98. 

14/99 26.08.99 Police Service Personnel, England and Wales, as 31 March 1999. 

15/99 08.09.99 Fire Statistics, United Kingdom 1998. 

16/99 09.09.99 Breath Test Statistics, England and Wales 1998. 

17/99 17.09.99 Police Complaints and Discipline, England and Wales, April 1998 

to March 1999. 

Copies of these bulletins are available from: Research, Development and Statistics Directorate, 

Information and Publications Group, Room 201, Home Office, 

50 Queen Anne’s Gate, London, SW1H 9AT. Tel. 020 7273 2084 

Or by Internet email rds.ho@gtnet.gov.uk 

RDS Internet site http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm 

28

1998 1999 - Nationalarchives.gov.uk

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