Overview
At the time of this review, the Office for National Statistics (ONS)’s domestic abuse estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) are published as official statistics.
These statistics measure the prevalence of domestic abuse among people aged 16 years and over in England and Wales. These statistics aid the government, law enforcement, victim support charities and academics in preventing and understanding domestic abuse and better supporting victims.
This review considered ONS’s work to redevelop the domestic abuse statistics and the extent to which they met the evaluation criteria, with a view to deciding whether to accredit these estimates.
Why we did this review
Following the introduction of the Serious Crime Act 2015, ONS recognised that the domestic abuse statistics were no longer aligned to legislation. To support work to develop new questions, ONS conducted a survey on user requirements, which confirmed that the statistics were not meeting user needs. Following this, ONS undertook extensive redevelopment work over several years.
ONS has now permanently introduced a new set of domestic abuse questions to the CSEW. These questions aim to better capture data on experiences of domestic abuse, including the offence “controlling and coercive behaviour”.
Our initial 2023 review of the redevelopment of the domestic abuse questions examined whether ONS had done everything possible to ensure that the new questions had been adequately developed in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. Now that ONS has completed its redevelopment work and introduced the new questions to the CSEW, it has requested that we review the statistics to consider whether they should be awarded accredited official statistics status.
This review also draws from our 2024 review, which considered quality concerns around the CSEW estimates due to reduced sample size.
This review considers ONS’s work to redevelop the domestic abuse questions and produce new estimates of domestic abuse victimisation, the first of which were published in July 2025. Specifically, we considered:
- ONS’s transparency about the redevelopment work
- whether the new questions accurately measure experiences of domestic abuse victims
- whether the new questions align with legislation
- the quality of the new estimates
- whether ONS ensured that the new questions and estimates meet user needs
- the clarity and insight of the new estimates
Highlighted findings
ONS has regularly updated users on the development of the new domestic abuse questions. The April 2023 update provided a clear and accessible overview of the whole redevelopment process and outlined the criteria that ONS used to assess the success of the new questions.
ONS worked closely with subject experts and carried out cognitive testing with people from diverse backgrounds to refine the new questions. This work helped ensure that the redevelopment process was robust and that the questions reflect victims’ lived experiences.
The new domestic abuse estimates are reliable and fit for purpose. ONS has shown that the quality of the data – particularly in terms of non-response rates and question precision – is comparable to that of previous estimates. As these figures are part of the wider CSEW dataset, the findings from our 2024 quality review support their robustness.
ONS has actively engaged with users and stakeholders throughout the redevelopment process. Engagement activities have included one-to-one meetings with government, academic and third-sector stakeholders, multiple user surveys, and annual stakeholder events to gather feedback and understand user needs.
There are some areas where engagement could have been strengthened. For example, the winter 2024/25 survey received a limited number of responses, most likely due to its timing over the Christmas and New Year period.
ONS has presented the statistics clearly and provided useful guidance for interpreting the new estimates. The bulletin in which they are published explains that the new figures are not directly comparable with previous estimates and cannot be adjusted to enable such comparisons.
Our judgement
Based on the findings of this review, it is our view that ONS’s domestic abuse estimates from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) comply with the standards of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be reinstated as accredited official statistics.
ONS has undertaken significant work to redevelop the domestic abuse questions to better capture the experiences of victims and meet the needs of users. However, based on our findings and engagement with users, we have concluded that some areas for improvement remain. We have set out four recommendations for ONS to take forward to improve the quality and value of these statistics.
Next steps
We expect ONS to consider implementing our recommendations to enhance the quality and value of the statistics and strengthen the effectiveness of future user engagement activities.
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