Reference: FOI-2024-2015
You asked
May I please have a breakdown for England and Wales regarding sexual communication with a child offences for 2023?
England - number of offences:
Wales - number of offences:
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
Unfortunately, we do not hold the information you have requested.
We publish police recorded crime data at offence category level. We do not hold data for specific offences.
Engage in sexual communication with a child is a separate offence that sits within offence category 88A Sexual Grooming.
The number of Sexual Grooming offences recorded by the police in England and Wales, up to the year ending March 2023, can be found in the Crime in England and Wales: Appendix tables.
Data broken down by police force areas in England and Wales can be found in the Police recorded crime open data tables (fourth link in the list).
You can find further information on notifiable offences, including a breakdown of offence categories, in the Home Office Crime Recording Rules for frontline officers & staff.
Police recorded crime data are supplied to us by the Home Office. You could try contacting them directly and they may be able to assist you further. They can be contacted at: CrimeandPoliceStats@homeoffice.gov.uk.
If you have any further crime-related enquiries, the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice can be reached at the following e-mail address: CrimeStatistics@ons.gov.uk.