Dear Amy
Assessment of the police officer uplift statistics
We have completed our assessment of your police officer uplift statistics against the Code of Practice for Statistics.
The development of the uplift statistics represents best practice where government makes a manifesto commitment related to the workforce. Home Office made the commitment to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers measurable in a straightforward way. An important part of achieving this was clearly defining the baseline against which changes are to be measured. By producing official statistics on a consistent basis and releasing them in an orderly, transparent way, you are demonstrating trustworthiness, quality and value and supporting public confidence in the statistics and the police uplift programme.
We particularly welcome the new ‘National Standards for Workforce Data’, developed as a result of the uplift programme. They ensure that data on the protected characteristics of officers are collected in a consistent way across all forces in England and Wales. This standardisation adds insight on whether the police are becoming more representative of the communities they serve and will have long-term benefits for police workforce data.
We judge that the uplift statistics can be designated as National Statistics subject to three improvements. I am pleased that your team has made some of these improvements ahead of the next publication of the uplift statistics, scheduled for 27 July 2022. These include adding commentary on how the police officer allocation is based on the funding allocation and explaining the completeness of data for all protected characteristics.
I am copying this letter to Paul Trenell, Head of Police and Fire Analysis at Home Office, and Jodie Hargreaves, Head of Policing Statistics at Home Office.
Yours sincerely
Ed Humpherson
Director General for Regulation
Related links:
Paul Trenell to Ed Humpherson: Requesting assessment of the police officer uplift statistics as National Statistics (21 January 2022)
Ed Humpherson to Paul Trenell: Assessment of the police officer uplift statistics as National Statistics (21 January 2022)