The chancellor has announced plans to cut the police budget by 4% a year Recorded crime in England and Wales has fallen by 8% over the last year, latest Ministry of Justice figures show.
The annual statistics for the 12 months to June show big falls in car crime, criminal damage and burglary.
However, sexual offences have increased by 8% and the most serious sexual crimes are up by 10%.
Meanwhile, the British Crime Survey, based on people’s experiences of crime, found crime to be down 4% and people’s confidence in the police increasing.
The survey suggested 57% of people thought police in their local area were doing a good or excellent job compared with 54% in the same period the previous year.
And it found a smaller proportion of people perceived high levels of anti-social behaviour in their areas (down 2%).
But, it did indicate there had been slight increases in burglary, bicycle theft and other household theft.
The statistics come a day after the chancellor announced plans to cut the police budget by 4% a year, raising fears of major job losses in forces.
The MoJ figures showed 4.34 million incidents were recorded over the year.
Violent crimes against the person were down 4% from 903,400 to 871,700.
But the number of recorded rapes against women rose 15.7%, up from 12,100 to 14,000.
Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) head of crime Chief Constable Keith Bristow said the results showed police were continuing to play their part in driving down crime and protecting the public from harm.
He said: “We remain determined to tackle people who commit sexual offences and we are making real progress in this critical area, particularly around giving victims confidence to come forward and report these crimes and we need them do so.”
Scotland and Northern Ireland compile their statistics separately.
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