The number of homicides in England and Wales rose by 71 to 574 in the 12 months to September 2015 - an increase of 14% fuelled by rises in knife and gun crime, official statistics show.

The rise in the number of homicides brings to an end a decade in which the murder rate in England and Wales has been falling despite the continued growth in the population.

The quarterly crime figures published by the Office for National Statistics show a 6% increase in overall crime to 4.3 million offences as recorded by the police in the 12 months to September alongside an apparent 6% fall as measured by the separate crime survey of England and Wales. The ONS said the 6% fall was not statistically significant compared with the previous year’s estimate.

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The police-recorded crime figures include a 9% rise in knife crime and a 4% rise in gun crime, which are thought to reflect a rise in gang violence largely in London and Manchester. The rise in gun crime is the first recorded for eight years and includes a 10% rise in London.

The official statisticians say that a 36% rise in sexual offences, including the highest number of rapes since 2003 – at 33,341 – reflect a greater willingness of victims to come forward to report such crimes rather than a real surge in attacks.

The police-recorded figures also include a 27% rise in violence against the person offences, which the ONS said was largely driven by a 37% increase in incidents involving violence without injury as a result of increased recording by the police. The detailed figures also show falls in the number of robberies and snatch thefts.

Despite these increases in some individual categories of violence the ONS said the overall violent crime rate in England and Wales remains unchanged based on estimates from the crime survey which show two in every 100 adults were violent crime victims in the last year. The statisticians say they are reviewing a current cap on the way they count high-frequency victims, particularly of domestic violence.

The quarterly crime figures show a 5% increase in fraud offences reported to the police for investigation, thought largely to cover banking and card fraud. The crime survey, which measures people’s experience of crime, will not include estimates of fraud or cybercrime until July.

Offences such as burglary and car crime have remained flat over the past year after seeing falls of more than 30% since 2005.

Jack Dromey, Labour’s shadow policing minister, said the figures showed that some of the most serious crimes have soared to the highest levels in years. He said: “The Tories have slashed police officers by 17,000 and broke their promise to the public to protect frontline officer numbers. Now we see the biggest increase in recorded crime in a decade. The first duty of any government is the safety and security of our citizens. The biggest cuts to any police force in Europe is letting the British people down.”

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Home Office minister Mike Penning said: “We continue to see a rise in police recording of violent and sexual crimes. The Office for National Statistics is clear that this rise reflects improvements in recording practice and a willingness of victims to come forward - this is something we welcome. We are also providing much greater transparency on what happens to crimes once they have been reported to the police.

“The government has made reducing violence, including knife crime, a priority and continues to work closely with the police and other organisations to tackle the drivers of these crime,” he added.

“But we know there is more to do. Last year, we legislated to ensure that those convicted of carrying a knife more than once are automatically sent to prison and we are reviewing our measures on knife crime further - including supporting coordinated police action and discussing with retailers what more they can do.”