To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of recorded crime was in Lancashire Constabulary area in (a) 1997 and (b) the latest period for which figures are available. (308582)

There were 119,755 offences recorded in Lancashire in 1997. There were 117,575 offences recorded in 2008-09. However, it is important to note that these two figures are not directly comparable.

Since 1997, there have been two major changes to the way crime is recorded. The coverage was extended and the counting rules revised in 1998-99 and the National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in April 2002. For these reasons it is not possible to directly compare data for 1997 with that for 2008-09.