To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences were recorded per 1,000 population in (a) England and Wales and (b) each police force area in each year since 1997, broken down by type of offence. (200478)

Data on rates per 1,000 population for each offence group and for each police force area are available from 2001-02 and are given in the tables placed in the House Library.

As a result of the findings of two independent reviews of crime statistics in 2006, a number of changes have been made to the classifications of offences. Therefore all of the offence categories shown in the tables are based on the new classifications. Providing data for earlier years, where the requested data are not held on electronic databases, would entail disproportionate cost.