Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of reasons for changes in the level of violent crime against the person in (a) Enfield and (b) London in the year to May 2015; and if she will make a statement.

The publication of crime statistics is the responsibility of the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Latest published figures (from Crime in England and Wales, year ending December 2014) show that according to the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales violence is 23% lower than it was in 2010. This is supported by National Health Service data on hospital admissions for assault, which also indicates violence is falling.

The ONS note that the recent changes in the level of violent crime recorded by the police relates to action taken by police forces, including the Metropolitan Police, to improve their compliance with the National Crime Recording Standard. This renewed focus on the accuracy of crime recording by the police is likely to have resulted in the increase in the number of offences recorded. However, we closely monitor trends in violent crime, and in the last Parliament we took action to strengthen legislation on knives to create new offences and introduce new sentences.