To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the change in the volume of crime was between 1997 and the latest date for which information is available, in each police authority in England. [99811]

The percentage changes for total recorded crime between the 12 months to March 1997 and the 12 months to March 2002, by police force area in England, are given in the table.There was a change in counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998 which increased the total number of crimes recorded in England and Wales as a whole by 14 per cent., although this varied for individual police forces and offence types. Comparisons between the old counting rules and the new rules for the year ending March 1999, as well as the effects of the boundary change involving the Metropolitan Police on 1 April 2000, are included in the table. The percentage change in the number of recorded crimes given in the table is calculated so that the effects of these changes are excluded.As a result of several forces adopting the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in advance of its official introduction across England and Wales on 1 April 2002, numbers of offences recorded for 2001–02 may have been inflated for those forces, and in total. Unlike the changes described above, this effect has not been factored out of the calculation of the percentage change in recorded crime given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on crime trends within Gloucestershire. [101177]

Recorded crime statistics for Gloucestershire Constabulary are given in the table. Figures for the main offence groups for the 12 months to Malch 2002 are shown.

Recorded crime trends in Gloucestershire for the 12 months to March 2002
Offence Group	Number of offences recorded	Percentage change between 2000–01 to 2001–02	Number offences per 1,000 population
Total offences	50,467	1	89
Violence against the person	4,695	6	8
Sexual offences	267	23	0.5
Robbery	498	37	1
Total violent crime	5,460	4	10

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the levels of (a) reported crimes and (b) successful prosecutions brought in Northampton were in 2001–02. [100805]

Recorded crime statistics for Northampton are recorded at Basic Command Unit level (BCD). At BCU level, figures for six key offence groups are collected and published. These offence groups are; violence against the person, sexual offences, robbery, domestic burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, and theft from a vehicle. Figures for the 12 months to March 2002 are given in table 1.

Table 1: Recorded crime statistics for Northampton Basic Command Unit ( BCU)
Offence group	Number of offences recorded 2001–02
Violence against the person	2,307
Sexual offences	155
Robbery	465
Domestic burglary	1,742
Theft of a motor vehicle	1,486
Theft from a vehicle	3,155

Table 2 includes figures on the number of defendants proceeded against and found guilty by Northampton magistrates' court and those found guilty at the Crown Court if committed by Northampton magistrates' court, for 2001.Court proceedings data is collected and published on a calendar year basis.

Table 2: Number of defendants proceeded against at Northampton magistrates' court for various recordable offences and the number found guilty including those found guilty at the Crown Court where Northampton magistrates' court was the committing court, 20011
Recordable offence(s)	Proceeded against	Found guilty
Violence against the person	798	449
Sexual offences	47	37
Robbery	48	37
Domestic burglary	79	60
Theft of a motor vehicle	48	8
Theft from a motor vehicle	54	35
All recordable offences	2,677	1,699
1 These data are on the principal offence basis.