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Following the commitment made on 22 October, the Home Secretary has published his more detailed response to the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary crime counts review.

The response was agreed with the Justice Secretary and the president of ACPO, chief constable Sir Hugh Orde.

Statement from the Crime and Policing Minister

David Hanson said, 'The public and the government expect crime to be taken seriously and for crime statistics to be recorded accurately.

'The independent British crime survey, which is not influenced by recording practices, shows overall crime is down by 36 per cent since 1997 and the risk of becoming a victim of violent crime remains low.

'Accurate recording of crimes is essential to ensure every victim receives the level of service and support they expect and deserve. This is why the former Home Secretary asked HMIC to review how police forces recorded violent crimes.

'Over the last 18 months, forces have done a great deal of work to strengthen their approach to the recording of crime and we have moved on significantly from the period which was examined by HMIC.

'The majority of forces perform well when classifying crime but the actions we are taking forward as a result of the HMIC recommendations will go even further to make sure the recording rules are properly applied.'

Find out more

Read the Home Secretary's response to the review.

You can also read the original review Crime counts - a review of data quality for offences of the most serious violence (new window), which is published on HM Inspectorate of Constabulary website.