Written question asked by Lord McCabe (Labour) on Monday, 24 April 2017, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 27 April 2017 (named day). It was answered by Brandon Lewis (Conservative) on Thursday, 27 April 2017 on behalf of the Home Office.

Police: Bureaucracy

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve the effectiveness of police recording processes for crimes in (a) England and Wales and (b) the West Midlands.

Answer: It is crucial that police crime recorded crime statistics are accurate and fit for purpose. HMIC’s rolling programme of crime data integrity inspections will keep the spotlight on forces to improve the accuracy of their crime recording. Where those inspections highlight areas for improvement we expect forces to take them seriously and act on them. HMIC are currently conducting a crime data integrity inspection in West Midlands police with a report to be published later in the year.

Secondary information