The information requested is given in the table.
It should be noted that non-sanction detections which contribute to the overall detection rates have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable.
The detection rate is a ratio of crime detected in a period to crimes recorded in a period. It is not based on tracking whether individual crimes recorded in a period have eventually been detected.
Period Detection rate (percentage) 1996 29 1997 27 1997-98 28 1998-991 29 1999-20002 30 2000-013 26 2001-02 26 2002-034 27 2003-04 28 2004-05 27 2005-06 31 2006-07 33 2007-08 32 2008-09 35 1 The percentage of crimes detected in that financial year using the expanded coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998. 2 New instructions which clarified the rules for detecting crime were introduced on 1 April 1999. 3 Essex police force was affected by boundary changes in April 2000. 4 The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in 2002-03. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable.
Although the Home Office engages actively with all forces and authorities, especially in the development of the recent Policing White Paper, no central record is kept of discussions that have taken place between the Home Office and individual police authorities.
The Home Office does not keep central records of visits made by officials.
This information is not held centrally, and we do not require police forces or authorities to hold statistics on these specific incidents. The statistics may be available directly from Essex police.