Crime Figures Drop Amid 'Fiddling' Concerns

The number of crimes against households and adults has fallen by 10% to the lowest level on record, figures show.

There were around eight million crimes in the year to September 2013, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), which records victims' experience of crime whether reported to the police or not.

Of those 859,000 were against children aged between 10 and 15.

The figures show that, according to the survey, crime is now at its lowest level since figures started being collected 32 years ago.

Separately, police recorded 3.7 million crimes in the same period - a fall of 3%, according to the Office for National Statistics, which released the data.

The latest figures come amid concerns that police officers are routinely "fiddling" figures in order to make their performance look better.

Crime Prevention Minister Norman Baker welcomed the figures

Last week the UK Statistics Authority, the statistics watchdog, withdrew "gold-standard" status from the police-recorded crime figures, which began in the 19th century, because of the "accumulating evidence" that they were unreliable.

While the police-recorded figures showed a drop across most crimes, there were increases in theft from the person (7%) and shoplifting (4%).

Police also recorded a 17% increase in sexual offences, which statisticians at the ONS attributed to the effect of the Jimmy Savile case and claims against other celebrities, which has seen a number of people coming forward to report historic offences.

Police recorded crime and the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which began in 1981, are the two most significant measures of crime in the country. The survey has shown a consistent fall in crime since 1995, when it hit its peak level of 11.1 million crimes.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales showed there was a 13% drop in violent crime, a 15% decrease in bicycle theft and a 10% drop in overall household crime.

Most forces saw a fall in police-reported crime. Only Northumbria, City of London and British Transport showed an increase (all 1%) while Cumbria, Gwent, Humberside and Merseyside saw no change.

In November the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee was told that police officers were "routinely massaging crime figures".

MPs were told by Metropolitan Police officer James Patrick about the use of techniques such as "cuffing", "nodding", "skewing" and "stitching" to make figures look better.

They were told how rapes and child abuse were being recorded as "crime-related incidents" or "no crimes", robberies were recorded as "theft snatch" to get them "off the books" and multiple incidents were described as "single crimes".

Welcoming the latest drop shown in the crime figures, Crime Prevention Minister Norman Baker said: "England and Wales are safer than they have been for decades with crime now at its lowest level since the survey began in 1981.

"The Government has made clear that recorded crime statistics must be as robust as possible and we have a strong record on reinforcing their independence and accountability.

"We asked HMIC in June to carry out an audit of the quality of crime recording in every police force. And earlier this month, the Home Secretary wrote to chief constables emphasising that the police must ensure that crimes are recorded accurately and honestly."

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