Crime figures need independence

7 Sep 06
Ministers should consider moving crime statistics out of the Home Office to an independent, arm's-length body, according to the statistics watchdog.

08 September 2006

Ministers should consider moving crime statistics out of the Home Office to an independent, arm's-length body, according to the statistics watchdog.

A report published this week by the Statistics Commission called on ministers to consider granting responsibility for the British crime survey to the independent Office for National Statistics to boost public confidence in national crime figures.

Current figures have been criticised as confusing. While the British crime survey has reported that levels of violent crime are falling, police figures show them to be rising, because of better recording methods.

Opinion polls show that the public has little faith in the picture presented by the survey.

Other recommendations in the September 4 report include a new definition of violent crime, one that distinguishes between violent crime as it is generally understood and offences such as bigamy and possession of offensive weapons, currently classified in the same category.

Commission chair David Rhind said: 'Crime statistics are the quintessential “official figures”, a measure both of society and of government, telling us about the social hazards we face and something about our success in containing those hazards.'

The commission's review is the third to emerge as part of a wider programme of work looking at statistics in major policy fields.

The Home Office said it would consider the recommendations alongside its own review of crime statistics.

PFsep2006

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