Notifiable offence

General

A category of offences that police forces are required to report to the Home Office for statistical purposes. The list of notifiable offences broadly corresponds to indictable and triable-either-way offences plus a small number of summary offences such as assault by beating and criminal damage below £5,000. Notifiable offences form the basis of the national crime statistics published by the Office for National Statistics.

In practice

Not all offences recorded by the police are notifiable offences. Minor road traffic offences, for example, are recorded locally but not included in national statistics. Forces must apply the Home Office Counting Rules correctly to ensure consistent reporting.

Related terms

Recorded crime
Indictable offence

Last updated 24 September 2026