[holding answer 15 September 2008]: The information requested is in the following tables.
1998-99 1999-20001 2000-01 2001-02 Police force area Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Avon and Somerset 150,089 24 147,104 22 149,254 21 177,196 14 Bedfordshire 49,076 33 53,607 25 49,627 27 52,210 25 British Transport Police n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Cambridgeshire 67,256 29 68,722 25 64,343 24 69,559 22 Cheshire 65,119 37 64,528 31 63,288 30 70,990 26 Cleveland 67,030 23 65,185 22 64,357 21 72,003 20 Cumbria 40,202 44 37,729 39 32,873 34 37,229 32 Derbyshire 84,459 31 85,650 28 81,668 26 89,841 25 Devon and Cornwall 110,644 36 110,361 35 102,853 34 101,425 32 Dorset 52,755 31 52,332 26 50,320 25 54,869 27 Durham 50,413 33 48,796 32 44,702 34 51,478 33 Dyfed-Powys 24,588 69 23,709 65 22,878 63 23,969 64 Essex 95,797 29 102,777 30 106,768 26 113,150 26 Gloucestershire 48,206 31 50,993 31 49,871 32 50,467 30 Greater Manchester 362,450 25 377,086 23 363,454 22 380,801 21 Gwent 58,738 55 60,132 53 56,728 57 46,916 55 Hampshire 128,253 35 135,174 32 133,553 29 135,961 29 Hertfordshire 49,309 34 52,741 27 64,215 24 67,237 24 Humberside 130,691 22 121,442 19 110,312 21 118,039 20 Kent 129,340 34 124,918 33 128,382 28 120,155 28 Lancashire 118,085 34 108,866 29 117,633 27 137,760 26 Leicestershire 93,397 34 94,577 30 86,422 28 88,557 28 Lincolnshire 46,670 40 46,170 28 44,884 25 49,792 27 London, City of 7,144 33 7,775 32 8,255 27 10,093 34 Merseyside 140,874 31 148,172 26 142,807 28 151,041 24 Metropolitan Police 934,254 22 1,052,049 16 994,233 15 1,056,513 14 Norfolk 57,129 37 59,387 30 57,259 26 58,923 25 Northamptonshire 65,466 33 61,240 33 56,731 33 60,458 31 Northumbria 151,298 30 142,279 31 134,777 31 139,130 31 North Wales 43,848 43 44,606 36 47,712 31 53,839 28 North Yorkshire 55,309 33 53,554 31 51,551 30 59,125 26 Nottinghamshire 135,255 25 136,875 21 139,903 20 159,462 18 South Wales 134,820 39 127,040 31 111,131 31 116,708 33 South Yorkshire 133,059 32 131,700 25 125,179 25 134,764 23 Staffordshire 91,919 32 98,852 22 104,705 23 117,027 20 Suffolk 39,908 41 43,355 36 44,317 35 50,492 33 Surrey 42,467 40 46,288 32 63,321 28 61,457 25 Sussex 130,402 25 136,566 25 136,920 23 135,110 25 Thames Valley 176,477 25 191,875 20 187,989 22 196,980 24 Warwickshire 38,485 26 38,593 22 36,963 22 42,211 25 West Mercia 81,782 34 84,797 29 78,363 28 102,257 28 West Midlands 314,628 30 364,887 27 364,879 28 372,257 29 West Yorkshire 273,809 27 260,237 25 258,908 23 298,845 19 Wiltshire 38,189 38 38,461 33 36,555 29 38,728 30 England and Wales 5,109,089 29 5,301,187 25 5,170,843 24 5,525,024 22 n/a = Not available 1 New instructions which clarified the rules for detecting crime were introduced on 1 April 1999. Notes: 1. The data in this table are prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years. 2. It should be noted that non-sanction detections that contribute to the overall detection rate have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable. From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstances.
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 Police force area Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Avon and Somerset 173,866 15 164,943 15 161,210 17 Bedfordshire 60,895 26 62,382 23 57,973 28 British Transport Police 77,264 15 79,182 16 77,889 17 Cambridgeshire 85,029 22 79,960 23 73,659 23 Cheshire 84,574 26 92,223 27 89,300 26 Cleveland 73,816 23 74,579 21 68,967 24 Cumbria 37,595 31 39,539 32 43,300 30 Derbyshire 103,180 26 98,741 25 84,712 28 Devon and Cornwall 131,240 29 131,453 29 133,282 30 Dorset 62,297 25 62,657 26 57,722 28 Durham 51,177 34 48,432 29 47,115 29 Dyfed-Powys 25,104 68 31,105 47 32,409 43 Essex 136,181 27 144,512 28 134,789 27 Gloucestershire 55,775 29 58,097 28 53,333 27 Greater Manchester 379,126 22 367,959 22 324,616 23 Gwent 61,237 48 59,296 45 57,204 42 Hampshire 152,664 30 178,543 27 173,072 28 Hertfordshire 86,396 23 95,117 25 97,065 29 Humberside 132,529 20 141,644 19 124,105 20 Kent 130,597 28 137,313 25 136,440 23 Lancashire 130,507 27 151,834 27 152,043 30 Leicestershire 96,143 27 96,355 22 96,347 25 Lincolnshire 61,949 23 60,377 22 58,349 25 London, City of 10,026 36 9,250 33 8,685 36 Merseyside 163,166 25 169,181 27 170,846 30 Metropolitan Police 1,079,877 14 1,060,927 15 1,015,121 21 Norfolk 71,270 24 69,846 26 66,376 28 Northamptonshire 73,509 28 78,582 28 73,903 29 Northumbria 165,496 31 157,051 30 142,122 29 North Wales 65,067 29 61,749 33 53,849 42 North Yorkshire 67,239 26 71,473 28 61,615 35 Nottinghamshire 161,403 16 159,228 18 143,498 20 South Wales 143,372 29 137,113 29 124,162 29 South Yorkshire 152,057 21 141,794 24 140,371 26 Staffordshire 108,626 31 109,396 33 101,084 35 Suffolk 50,315 34 53,443 33 52,101 32 Surrey 68,452 22 73,252 22 70,851 26 Sussex 130,887 24 134,557 24 140,177 25 Thames Valley 208,523 25 210,256 23 205,273 26 Warwickshire 44,196 26 45,714 25 43,131 27 West Mercia 105,077 33 106,900 31 95,056 34 West Midlands 350,242 26 339,292 25 290,779 23 West Yorkshire 322,794 20 325,556 20 263,534 25 Wiltshire 44,225 28 42,956 28 40,076 29 England and Wales 5,974,960 24 6,013,759 23 5,637,511 26
Police force area Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Number of offences Detection rate (%) Avon and Somerset 154,876 23 160,834 24 144,970 25 Bedfordshire 59,493 25 57,289 22 51,327 22 British Transport Police 76,385 20 76,405 24 67,875 27 Cambridgeshire 66,804 27 69,146 25 65,308 27 Cheshire 95,297 27 89,023 27 79,278 26 Cleveland 71,962 30 68,452 31 66,646 33 Cumbria 42,722 35 38,640 36 35,282 38 Derbyshire 81,085 27 81,037 26 77,534 29 Devon and Cornwall 124,533 28 123,851 27 111,260 28 Dorset 58,724 30 55,142 30 51,285 27 Durham 53,123 27 53,173 30 47,839 29 Dyfed-Powys 30,185 45 30,124 45 25,639 42 Essex 132,378 31 127,163 33 119,164 32 Gloucestershire 53,062 32 52,388 33 45,685 32 Greater Manchester 328,237 25 332,554 25 297,966 25 Gwent 53,627 36 53,182 33 48,472 30 Hampshire 175,293 24 180,894 23 164,940 27 Hertfordshire 95,273 26 91,408 29 80,239 30 Humberside 116,104 23 112,771 25 97,034 31 Kent 147,112 26 146,402 26 131,269 27 Lancashire 142,229 32 135,837 35 123,681 35 Leicestershire 91,185 30 93,108 28 88,253 27 Lincolnshire 57,608 26 55,478 28 51,102 28 London, City of 8,432 43 7,973 39 7,572 36 Merseyside 174,989 28 155,208 29 126,934 32 Metropolitan Police 984,125 24 921,779 21 862,032 25 Norfolk 64,902 31 62,626 30 55,686 32 Northamptonshire 68,075 25 65,975 26 63,657 25 Northumbria 131,968 35 129,070 40 109,251 38 North Wales 50,270 43 53,450 48 45,545 40 North Yorkshire 58,850 35 54,526 33 50,265 33 Nottinghamshire 138,289 22 136,531 23 124,880 23 South Wales 123,942 26 121,717 25 123,967 26 South Yorkshire 162,845 27 159,477 26 145,769 27 Staffordshire 104,411 35 104,336 35 89,348 28 Suffolk 52,831 30 51,096 31 48,330 30 Surrey 68,978 25 74,242 30 68,947 27 Sussex 135,690 30 133,147 31 119,393 32 Thames Valley 201,412 28 211,325 25 196,008 25 Warwickshire 43,392 25 45,257 27 39,968 26 West Mercia 85,353 34 82,095 34 80,054 29 West Midlands 288,055 26 278,660 27 248,235 27 West Yorkshire 258,887 28 249,670 29 228,195 24 Wiltshire 42,181 32 45,098 26 44,587 27 England and Wales 5,555,174 27 5,427,559 27 4,950,671 28 Notes: 1. The data in this table take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording standard In April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years. 2. It should be noted that non-sanction detections that contribute to the overall detection rate have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable. From 1 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstances.