Dear Senior Statistician
ASSESSMENT OF THE MOTORING OFFENCE STATISTICS FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
Thank you for inviting us to assess the Motoring Offence Statistics, produced by Police Service of Northern Ireland, against the Code of Practice for Statistics. We have completed our assessment and have today published our Assessment Report. I am grateful for the positive contribution and engagement of your team throughout the assessment process.
During our assessment, we found that the statistics provide relevant, trusted information about motoring offences in Northern Ireland, with a good overview of the main trends. They enable users to better understand road safety in Northern Ireland and to develop policies that aim to improve it. Our user engagement confirmed that users are happy with the published statistics: users of the statistics are also extremely complimentary about the statistics team and how it engages with questions and requests for additional analysis.
We also commend the statistics team for its ongoing commitment to producing high quality statistics. The team has a strong working relationship with its data suppliers. This allows the team to easily request changes to the data it receives, which in turn allows the team to continue to provide analysis on policy changes or when new areas of interest arise.
While we are impressed by the statistics that PSNI produces, we have identified several ways that the statistics should be strengthened further, to ensure that they fulfil the expectations of the Code. Our four Requirements ask your statistics team to focus on: pre-emptively meeting the additional data and analysis needs of those using the statistics; increasing the value and insight offered by the statistics through linking to other statistics that could help explain trends; extending the reach of the statistics by trying to broaden their user engagement; and improving transparency around the team’s plans for developing the statistics, so that users can better shape this work.
We judge that the Motoring Offence Statistics can be designated as new National Statistics once these Requirements have been met. You are due to report back to us in February 2020, outlining how you have addressed the Requirements. Please feel free to discuss any aspect of this with me or my team at any time.
Your sincerely
Ed Humpherson
Director General for Regulation
Related Links:
Assessment Report 347 – PSNI Motoring Offence statistics
Response – Request for Assessment: Northern Ireland Motoring Offence statistics
Request for Assessment: Northern Ireland Motoring Offence statistics