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Written question asked by James Duddridge (Conservative) on Friday, 6 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 October 2006. It was answered by Tony McNulty (Labour) on Monday, 16 October 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.


Antisocial Behaviour

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reported incidents of (a) criminal damage and (b) graffiti there were in England in each of the last 10 years.
Answer

Incidents of criminal damage recorded by the police and estimated by the British Crime Survey (BCS) are reported annually in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin ‘Crime in England and Wales’.Current figures can be found in the following table. These are produced for England and Wales as a whole. Separate figures for England are not currently available. The BCS, which provides the best measure of trends over time, shows that there has been a 19 per cent. fall in incidents of criminal damage between 1995 and 2005-06.Incidents of graffiti are included within the overall count of criminal damage and it is not possible to provide separate estimates from the either police recorded crime statistics or the BCS.

Trends in criminal damage, police recorded crime statistics and the British Crime Survey, 1995 to 2005-06
Number (thousand)
1995 1996 1997
Police recorded crime statistics
Total criminal damage 914 951 877
BCS
All vandalism 3,366 n/a 2,866
Unweighted base¹ 16,337 14,937
1998-99²,³ 1999-20004 2000-01 2001-02
Police recorded crime statistics
Total criminal damage 880 946 960 1,064
BCS
All vandalism n/a 2,861 n/a 2,603
Unweighted base¹ 19,398 32,787
2002-035,6 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
Police recorded crime statistics
Total criminal damage 1,121 1,219 1,198 1,185
BCS
All vandalism 2,535 2,465 2,564 2,731
Unweighted base¹ 36,450 37,891 45,069 47,729
¹ Unweighted base refers to the number of households interviewed by the BCS upon which the estimates are based. ² Change from calendar year to financial year in reporting of recorded crime. ³ The number of crimes recorded by the police in that financial year using the expanded offence coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998. 4 Figures for BCS relate to calendar year 1999. 5 Numbers of recorded crime offences will be affected by changes in reporting and recording. For further information see chapter 3 in ‘Crime in England and Wales 2002/03’. 6 Police recorded crime includes figures from the British Transport Police from 2002/03 onwards. Source: ‘Crime in England and Wales 2005/06’ Home Office Statistical Bulletin 12/06, July 2006 and associated web tables http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1206tab201.xls and http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/100years.xls

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
91401; 450 c1033-4W;450 c1039-40W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Crimes against property Vandalism
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk