To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) arrested and (b) convicted for shoplifting in the South Wales police force area in each of the last two years. (187096)

Information on how many people were (a) arrested for shoplifting cannot be separately identified from the main offence group of 'other theft offences' of which it is a part.

The number of people who were (b) convicted for shoplifting in the South Wales police area was 1,704 in 2005 and 1,187 in 2006.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the incidence of shoplifting in the South Wales Police Division H area. (187097)

It is not possible to accurately assess the prevalence of shoplifting. For a variety of reasons many offences are not reported to the police and many offences do not come to the attention of the victim. The available information is contained in the Home Office recorded crime statistics.

South Wales police Division H equates to the Swansea basic command unit (BCU). At BCU level, the Home Office collects statistics on the numbers of offences recorded by the police for that area.

The following table shows that when comparing 2005-06 with 2006-07, shoplifting offences recorded for Swansea BCU have increased by 19 per cent., from 1,449 to 1,726 offences. In 2006-07, shoplifting accounted for 8 per cent. of all crime recorded by the police in the Swansea BCU.

Overall in 2006-07 there was a fall of 6 per cent. in total recorded crime in Swansea. There were also significant decreases in some of the high volume crimes with theft of a motor vehicle down 22 per cent., theft from a vehicle down 11 per cent. and violence against the person down 15 per cent.