The number of recorded sexual offences against children in England and Wales has risen by a third, according to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). There were 31,000 offences recorded in the year up to April 2014, up 8,500 on the previous year. Figures compiled by the charity show that 85 offences were recorded by police every day, with significant rises in Scotland and Northern Ireland also. A spokesman said high-profile cases had ‘played a contributory factor’ in encouraging people to come forward. Jon Brown, from the NSPCC's sexual abuse programme, told BBC Radio 4's Today that cases in Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford and elsewhere had helped prompt children, young people and adults to speak about abuse that is either happening to them or has happened to them. Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) lead for child protection, said police now looked upon child abuse very differently but the latest figures could be still only be the tip of the iceberg.