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News Archives: Index

October 7, 2010: Probation Set For Industrial Action

October 5, 2010: Turning Prisoners Into Taxpayers

October 4, 2010: Murder Changes Now In Force

September 20, 2010: Probation Programmes Face Cuts

August 24, 2010: Victorian Poor Law Records Online

August 10, 2010: Justice Job Cuts

July 28, 2010: Prison Violence Growing

July 22, 2010: Police Numbers: Latest Figures

July 22, 2010: New Jurisdiction Rules

July 16, 2010: CCJS On Prison And Probation Spending Under Labour

July 15, 2010: Latest Statistics On Violent And Sexual Crime

July 15, 2010: Latest National Crime Figures

July 15, 2010: New Chief Prisons Inspector

July 14, 2010: Hard Times Ahead For Prisons: Anne Owers

July 14, 2010: Prison Does Not Work: Ken Clarke

July 13, 2010: Criminal Justice Reform: Sentencing and Rehabilitation

July 13, 2010: Criminal Justice Reform Priorities

July 12, 2010: What Price Public Protection, Asks Probation Chief Inspector

July 12, 2010: NOMS has failed, says Napo

July 10, 2010: IPCC To Investigate Death of Raoul Moat

July 9, 2010: Women In Prison: New Report

July 9, 2009: Unjust Deserts: Imprisonment for Public Protection

July 8, 2010: Police Search Powers Change

July 7, 2010: Make 'Legal High' Illegal, Says ACMD

July 2, 2010: Failing Children In Prison

July 2, 2010: Police Buried Under a Blizzard of Guidance: HMIC

July 1, 2010: Freedom To Change The Law?

June 30, 2010: A New Outlook On Penal Reform?

June 30, 2010: Revolving Door Of Offending Must Stop, Says Clarke

June 30, 2010: Ken Clarke: Speech on Criminal Justice Reform

June 29, 2010: No More Police Targets

June 26, 2010: Family Intervention Projects Questioned

June 25, 2010: Cutting Criminal Justice

June 24, 2010: Napo on Sex Offenders Report

June 23, 2010: Closing Courts: The Cuts Begin

June 23, 2010: Strategy To Tackle Gangs

June 15, 2010: Courts and Mentally Disordered Offenders

June 8, 2010: Working With Muslims in Prison

June 1, 2010: Your Chance To Nominate a QC

The British Crime Survey

What is the British Crime Survey?

The British Crime Survey is a key source of information about levels of crime and public attitudes to crime. It is viewed as particularly important as it includes information about crimes which are not reported to the police. This makes it a valuable alternative to police recorded crime statistics.

The British Crime Survey also includes information on perceptions of the criminal justice system and attitudes towards crime. 

The British Crime Survey:

  • Is a victimisation survey in which adults living in private households are asked about their experiences of crime in face-to-face interviews.

    Currently interviews over 51,000 people aged 16 or over every year.

    Is a survey of a representative sample of people resident in England and Wales (the British Crime Survey does not sample people in Scotland or Northern Ireland, which have separate surveys: the Scottish Crime & Justice Survey and the Northern Ireland Crime & Victimisation Survey.)

  • Asks about people’s experiences and perceptions of crime

  •  Includes questions on people’s attitudes towards crime-related topics (including, for example, anti-social behaviour, the police, and criminal justice system)

  • Provides what many criminologists consider to be a very reliable measure of the extent of victimisation and of national trends over time

  • Is not affected by whether the public report crime or by changes to the way in which the police record crime

Police Recorded Crime is different to the British Crime Survey. Police recorded crime:

  • Is based on figures which are supplied by the police to the Home Office

  •  Covers crimes which are reported to and recorded by the police

  • Is a reliable measure of trends in well-reported crimes and also the less common but more serious crimes

  • Is also an important indicator of police workload

  •  Provides data for small geographic areas