To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of domestic violence were recorded in (a) England and Wales, (b) Avon and Somerset and (c) Taunton in each of the last five years. (112097)

The British Crime Survey (BCS) routinely provides information on the number of incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales, but this is not broken down by region or police force area.

The 2005-06 British Crime Survey estimated that there were in total 357,000 incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales. The number of incidents of domestic violence as measured by the BCS has decreased by 43 per cent. from 2001-02 to 2005-06 BCS interviews.