Audit Commission

Recording crimes accurately is vital if police are to have access to reliable and timely information to help them target resources effectively and put victims and witnesses first.

Crime Recording 2005, which the Audit Commission publishes today with the Wales Audit Office, looks at how well the 43 police forces and authorities in England and Wales record crime data and compares their performance over the last three years. It finds that most forces and authorities meet the crime recording standards and all but two have adequate management arrangements in place to maintain and improve compliance.

The Commission reviewed police forces and authorities against the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) and Home Office Counting Rules. It also examined the way forces and authorities managed the process to ensure compliance with the standards. Each force and authority was given one of four ratings: "poor", "fair", "good" or "excellent".

The Commission found that 35 police forces and authorities met the minimum crime recording requirement of 90 per cent compliance with the standards to achieve a "good" or "excellent" rating. This compares to 24 (56 per cent) in 2004 and 12 (28 per cent) in the first year of reviews.

Improvement has been significant but there are still areas of concern. Two forces were rated as 'poor' for their management arrangements and a small number have deteriorated or failed to improve since the last review. Only one force has been judged as "excellent" for both data quality and management arrangements. In addition, five forces rely on expensive and time consuming data checking techniques rather than getting the crime recorded right first time.

Audit Commission Chief Executive Steve Bundred said:
"Accurate, timely and reliable data is vital in reducing crime and making communities safer. Improvement over the last three years has been significant with the vast majority of police forces and authorities now rated as "good" or "excellent" for data quality". But there is still work to be done. Only one force has achieved an excellent rating for its management arrangements and a small number of forces have failed to improve or even deteriorated since the last audit in 2004. Some forces are achieving a higher rating by checking data too much instead of making sure they record crimes correctly first time."

Recording crime properly has a direct impact on people’s lives. Forces taking appropriate action correctly to record crime, such as burglary, violent assault or domestic violence when it is reported, are far more likely to be able to protect the victim from future harm.

In forces with "good" or "excellent" management arrangements, victims and witnesses will find it easy to contact the police and will be updated throughout the process. Satisfaction surveys will give police information about complaint patterns and the experience of victims and witnesses so that forces can identify problem areas and respond.

Weaker forces fail to return calls from the public, provide information or make follow-up visits as promised. In some cases, such as at busy times, victims may struggle to contact the police at all.

There has been overall improvement in the management arrangements to support data quality. Twenty nine forces (67 per cent) were assessed as "good" or "excellent" for management arrangements in 2005 compared with eight (19 per cent) in 2004 and four (nine per cent) in 2003. There are two forces rated as "poor" compared with seven in 2003 and 2004.

Notes to editors

Crime recording reviews were carried out in partnership with the Police Crime and Standards Directorate at the Home Office, which is responsible for supporting improvement in police forces.

Auditors appointed by the Commission carried out the reviews as part of their responsibilities to examine the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of police authorities. The 2005 reviews at authorities and forces in Wales were carried out by auditors appointed by the Auditor General for Wales.

Auditors reviewed crime data in seven categories – disturbance, domestic violence, racial incidents, violent crime, criminal damage, burglary and vehicle crime.

NCRS was introduced in 2002 by the Association of Chief Police Officers with the support of the Home Office. Home Office Counting Rules provide police forces with a framework for recording crime.

The grading system for 2005 is different to 2003 and 2004 when forces and authorities were given a traffic light rating of green, amber or red. The four-band rating system was introduced in 2005 to match that used in assessments by other bodies. Poor is equivalent to red and fair to amber. Good and excellent divide the green category.

Crime data

Poor = Less than 80 per cent compliant

Fair = 80-89 per cent compliant

Good = 90-94 per cent compliant

Excellent = 95 per cent or more compliant

Management arrangements

Poor = Below minimum requirements

Fair = Meeting minimum requirements

Good = Consistently above minimum requirements

Excellent = Strong performance with clear evidence of innovation and good practice that can be shared with others

The Audit Commission is an independent body responsible for ensuring that public money is spent economically, efficiently and effectively, to achieve high quality local services for the public. Our remit covers around 11,000 bodies in England, which between them spend more than £180 billion of public money each year. Our work covers local government, health, housing, community safety and fire and rescue services.

As an independent watchdog, we provide important information on the quality of public services. As a driving force for improvement in those services, we provide practical recommendations and spread best practice. As an independent auditor, we ensure that public services are good value for money and that public money is properly spent.