The British Crime Survey (BCS)

What it is  |  Why we use it  |  What the BCS doesn't cover

What it is

The British Crime Survey (BCS) is an in-home survey, run by the Home Office, that measures the amount of crime in England and Wales by asking people aged 16 and over, living in private households, about crimes they have experienced in the last year.

The British Crime Survey was first carried out in 1982 and further surveys were carried out in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2001.

Since April 2001, interviews have been carried out on a continuous basis and results from that point are reported by financial years.

See 'Long-term trends - British Crime Survey data' for a reliable indication of crime trends.

To find BCS reports, research studies and statistical bulletins, please visit the RDS website.

Back to top

Why we use it

For a variety of reasons, people do not always report crimes to the police, and those crimes are therefore not included in police recorded crime statistics.

In addition, the rules that the police follow when recording crimes have changed over the years, meaning it is often difficult to track real changes in crime over time. (See 'Changes in how police record crime'.)

With a total sample size of approximately 48,000 interviews for the most recent 2005/06 survey, the BCS is considered the most authoritative source for the assessment of crime levels in England and Wales.

While it does not claim to count all crimes that occur in England and Wales, it does provide a consistent measure of trends from one year to the next.

Both criminological and policing communities respect it as an authoritative and reliable measure of trends.

The BCS also promotes a more victim-orientated approach to recording:

• It helps to identify those most at risk of different types of crime, and this helps in the planning of crime prevention programmes;
  
• It looks at people's attitudes to crime, such as how much they fear crime and what measures they take to avoid it; and
  
• It looks at people's attitudes to the Criminal Justice System, including the police and the courts.

Back to top

What the BCS doesn't cover

The BCS surveys people in private households, and therefore doesn't cover certain types of crime, including:

• Crimes against businesses
• Crimes where there is no direct victim (such as possession of drugs)
• Crimes against victims younger than 16 (it is considered inappropriate to survey child victims of crime in a general household survey)
• Crimes that have involved deaths, like homicide (as the victims cannot be interviewed)

Additionally, while the BCS provides a great picture of crime on the national level, it cannot tell us what is happening in your local authority or neighbourhood.

In order to identify and address local crime hot spots and trends, police forces, Crime Reduction & Disorder Partnerships (CDRPs) and other organisations still rely on police recorded crime figures.

Back to top