1998 1999 - Nationalarchives.gov.uk

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
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