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Search for press releasesHome Secretary's statement on The Most Serious Violence: Data Quality Review
22 October 2009
Home Secretary Alan Johnson has made a statement in response to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) review of data quality for offences of the most serious violence.
The Home Secretary said:
'The government is committed to the integrity of crime statistics and to ensuring they are recorded accurately.
'That is why the former Home Secretary asked Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) to undertake an important quality assurance exercise when we spotted apparent and unexpected changes in specific violent crime categories. They have now completed that work and have produced both a technical and summary report (new window) detailing their findings.
'HMIC were asked to look at whether the police across all 42 police forces and the British Transport Police were correctly categorising violent crimes between July and September in 2008 following the clarification of the counting rules in April that year.
'I welcome the reports which are being published today. We will give careful consideration to the findings and the recommendations which HMIC have made.
'In summary the findings, based on sample data, indicate that while the vast majority of violent crimes are correctly recorded, there is variation between forces in their interpretation of the offence definitions for most serious violence and assault with less serious injury. It is important to mention that in the 18 months since the clarification was issued, police forces have done a great deal of work to strengthen their own approach to the recording of this data. We have moved on significantly from the period which the data in the report relates to and forces continue to ensure their 2008/09 figures for this crime category are recorded in accordance with the counting rules.
'That said, accuracy and consistency of recorded crimes is something we need to foster by putting in place the appropriate levels of support and training to officers and the appropriate levels of inspection of the data which is being recorded. I am concerned in particular by the finding that there seems to be inconsistency in the use of the ‘No-crime’ category and therefore the possibility that some victims of crime may not have got the support that would have helped them deal with their experience. There are entirely legitimate circumstances where incidents can be removed from a tally of recorded crime – such as a burglary fraudulently reported in order to make a bogus insurance claim. However, some cases where a decision was made not to record a crime are clearly unacceptable. This is something I would want to understand more fully and work with ACPO colleagues to determine how we can best take this and any further review and inspection of forces’ recording of crime forward.
'The HMIC report also recommends that we should consider a review of the 1861 Offences against the Person Act. This recommendation has implications for all criminal offences in that Act, not just the ones reviewed in the HMIC report. I recognise why the recommendation has been made and it is something we would need to look at closely with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice. However, I must be very clear at the outset that such a step could result in a fundamental overhaul of our offences and sentencing framework and would take a number of years to deliver. Any review would need to deliver substantial benefits beyond merely updating the language of the offences, such as more consistent sentencing and charging. We will need to weigh up the balance of investment and resourcing on this very carefully in consultation with stakeholders inside and outside government before we are able to determine the best way forward.
'I will publish a more detailed response to the recommendations owned by the Home Office in December.'
