Written question asked by James Duddridge (Conservative) on Thursday, 19 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 24 October 2006. It was answered by Tony McNulty (Labour) on Monday, 30 October 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.

Antisocial Behaviour

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2006, Official Report, columns 1033-34W, on anti-social behaviour, if he will take steps to record incidents of graffiti separately from incidents of criminal damage.

Answer: [holding answer 24 October 2006]: British Crime Survey (BCS) respondents who have been victims of criminal damage are asked about the nature of such damage. However, it is not possible to publish robust estimates of the number of incidents of graffiti due to the relatively low incidence and thus high variability of the estimates.Criminal damage measures from the BCS are published in line with those from recorded crime, and thus will be reviewed if any changes are made to police statistics. We will explore whether police recorded crime returns could be amended to include the information requested, without placing an undue burden on police forces. The reviews of crime statistics (Statistics Commission and Smith, forthcoming) may also affect how measurements of criminal damage and graffiti are made in future years of the BCS and police recorded crime statistics.

Secondary information