Crime and justice is changing and we think it is important that the statistics continue to reflect the real world; undoubtedly there are challenges to doing this. In our review of the Public value of crime and justice statistics in the UK we identified a need for statistics that join-up across the system, yet the separation of government and organisations, particularly in England and Wales, means that this is not always the case. And we think that more work could be done across the UK so that crime statistics achieve similar public value in all administrations.

We have started conversations between producer organisations to explore some of these issues through two roundtable discussions. The first was with producer organisations across the UK and looked at increasing value by sharing information. The second was with producer organisations covering England and Wales and looked at increasing value through sharing and linking data.

Our previous work

In our work on crime and justice statistics we have a strong record of publicly challenging the status quo in crime statistics, in the trust that the public can have in crime statistics and the quality of the underlying data. We broadened our view to consider the value that crime and justice statistics bring to public debate, starting with a crime and justice statistics seminar in London in 2015 to gather expert views on how crime and justice statistics might extend their value.

During 2016 we added to our knowledge through:

• one-to-one conversations with academics and people who interpret crime and justice statistics for a wider audience
• a commissioned international review of leading-edge developments in crime and justice statistics
• mapping the existing landscape of crime and justice statistics across the UK
• regular contact with producers, following public dialogue and reading academic and methodological papers to keep abreast of topical issues and understand areas of concern

Our view on the Public value of crime and justice statistics was formed out of this ongoing activity.

If you are interested in contributing to our work or would like to receive an alert as more information becomes available, please get in touch.

 

Contact for more information:

Pat MacLeod
pat.macleod@statistics.gov.uk
020 7592 8657