Written question asked by Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Evans of Temple Guiting (Labour) on Monday, 26 February 2007.

Crime: Rape

Question: asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether statistics of reported rapes can be double-counted where specific allegations of rape are repeated in more than one jurisdiction within the United Kingdom.

Answer: Reported allegations of rape should not be double-counted. If the same allegation of rape is made in several different police force areas, it is the force in which the alleged offence occurred which will be responsible for recording it. If the same allegation has already been recorded in any other force areas, the alleged offence should be ““no crimed”” in accordance with the guidance contained in Section C of the Home Office Counting Rules and the details transferred to the force responsible for recording. The guidance on ““no-crimes”” is available at: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/countgeneral07.pdf.

Secondary information