Readers of Info4Security and SMT Online will recall that Home Secretary Theresa May commissioned an independent review of crime statistics last January.
At the time, May also asked the national statistician “to decide which independent body should have future responsibility for the publication of crime statistics” and to look at how crime statistics are measured, collated and published.
The subsequent review recommended that:
The national statistician also recommended that a new independent Advisory Committee should be set up to take the work forward.
Full Government acceptance of proposals
The Government has now accepted all recommendations put forward by national statistician Jil Matheson.
Commenting on the announcement – which follows hot on the heels of the latest British Crime Survey results – the Home Office minister responsible for crime and security, James Brokenshire, stated: “Our existing measures of crime are confusing, and offer the public only a partial picture of the true level of offending.”
He continued: “It’s in the public interest that we have measures of crime that are clear and meaningful, and in which the public can have confidence.”
The minister said: “Today, we are accepting all of the recommendations of the national statistician, including the transfer of the publication of crime statistics to the independent Office for National Statistics. This is an important step towards building public trust.”
By way of conclusion, Brokenshire commented: “The national statistician’s independent Advisory Committee will now consider what further changes are necessary to improve the collection and presentation of the key data about crime that’s published nationally.”
