Call for better data on disorder

18 May 06
Local authority efforts to curb low-level disorder and antisocial behaviour are hampered by insufficient and uncoordinated data collection, a report from the Audit Commission has found.

19 May 2006

Local authority efforts to curb low-level disorder and antisocial behaviour are hampered by insufficient and uncoordinated data collection, a report from the Audit Commission has found.

The report, Neighbourhood crime and antisocial behaviour, said that six years after the founding of local authority crime and disorder reduction partnerships in England and community safety partnerships in Wales, councils and police forces were still not working well enough together to assess where local hot spots might be.

Although councils use some data held by police forces, comparative information for assessing trends was not available, the report said, because a consistent approach to police data collection was introduced only in 2005.

Since antisocial behaviour is not a crime in itself, it is not recorded in police records. Over-reliance on police data thus means that the patterns of low-level disorder that most shape people's perception of safety are often not assessed, the report said.

Sir Michael Lyons, Audit Commission acting chair, said: 'Crime has been falling since 1995, but what is measured does not always match the experience of people when they walk down their own street. Local partnerships must work better together to collect, collate and evaluate data more effectively to ensure money is being spent where it is most needed.'

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