Photograph by WMP
Overall crime rates in England and Wales fell by 10% in the year to September 2013 according to the latest figures.
The Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) reports that there were 8 million crimes against adults and households during the twelve month period, which is the lowest estimate since the survey was established in 1981.
The survey estimates crime statistics based on how many people report that they have been a victim of crime, which includes many offences where the victim did not go to the police.
In the latest CSEW figures, household crime was down 10%, with personal crime down 9%, and violence down 13%, which matches with falls in official police figures on reported crime.
Whilst Prime Minister David Cameron congratulated police for bringing crime numbers down, the UK Statistics Authority removed the survey’s National Statistics designation as it can be unreliable and manipulated to hit performance targets.
The major increase in offences in the estimates were sexual offences, which increased by 17%, a result that may be partly due to a “Yewtree effect” and high profile of Jimmy Savile’s crimes, where more people have started reporting historical offences. Reports of historical sex crimes, which happened more than 20 years ago, rose by 122%.
Reports of shoplifting also rose 4%, with theft from the person rising 7%.
Crime Prevention Minister Norman Baker said:
Both the recorded crime statistics and the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales show that police reform is working and crime is continuing to fall. Overall, crime has fallen under this coalition government by more than 10% according to the Crime Survey and this is mirrored by the fall in police recorded crime since 2010.
England and Wales are safer than they have been for decades with crime now at its lowest level since the survey began in 1981.
