Changes to the Crime Survey for England and Wales

Closed 23 Jul 2017

Opened 13 Jun 2017

Contact

Fiona Aitchison

Crime Statistics and Analysis

crimestatistics@ons.gov.uk

Feedback Updated 12 Oct 2017

We Asked

Following a reduction in the level of funding for the Crime Survey for England and Wales we asked for your opinions of the proposed options for achieving the cost savings required. We would like to thank all respondents for taking the time to respond to the consultation.

You Said

We received a total of 123 responses to the consultation from academics, police forces and police and crime commissioners, local or regional government organisations, other government departments, charities and voluntary organisations. We would like to thank all respondents for taking the time to respond to the consultation.

The main feedback was:

  • A majority of respondents (40%) identified Option D – reducing the response rate to 71% and the sample size by 600 - as the best option of those available for achieving the required cost savings.
  • Many respondents raised concerns regarding the removal of questions related to victims’ experiences of the court system and use of victim services.
  • In particular, 34 respondents (28%) specifically identified the removal of the questions on restorative justice from the 'Victimisation' module as a major concern.

We Did

We have:

  • Reduced CSEW sample size for the 2017/18 survey year by 600 households and reduced the survey response rate to 71% from October 2017 (Option D).
  • Removed the three modules of questions asked of respondents about the performance of, their experiences of and their attitudes to the criminal justice system from October 2017.
  • Retained questions related to victims’ experiences of the court system and use of victim services included in the ‘Victimisation’ module of the CSEW that were previously proposed for removal.

Results Updated 10 Oct 2017

Files:

Overview

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is a face-to-face victimisation survey in which people resident in households in England and Wales are asked about their experiences of a range of crimes in the 12 months prior to the interview. Respondents to the survey are also asked about their attitudes towards different crime-related issues, such as the police and the criminal justice system and perceptions of crime and anti-social behaviour.

In the context of public sector financial constraints, the future level of funding for the CSEW will be reduced with effect from October 2017. Therefore we have drawn up a range of proposals to reduce the cost of the CSEW in 2017/18 and future years. Full details and information on the likely impacts of the different solutions are set out in this document.

We are now seeking user feedback on the potential options in order to inform our decision on how best to achieve the required cost savings. 

Why We Are Consulting

It is proposed that all the following questions will be removed from the CSEW questionnaire from October 2017:

  •  All questions in the ‘Performance of the Criminal Justice System’ module, excepting those related to the performance of the police.
  • All questions in the ‘Experiences of the Criminal Justice System’ module
  •  All questions in the ‘Attitudes to the Criminal Justice System’ module
  • Questions relating to victims’ experiences of the court system and use of victim services from the ‘Victimisation’ module. 

However, removing these questions alone will not yield sufficient savings. Therefore we need to find additional reductions in the survey to make up the shortfall and are seeking users views on possible options.

Please read the attached consultation document for full details of the options and their potential impact. A list of the affected questions is also available in the related links section.

You can either complete the on-line survey or fill in the attachment in the related links section and email it to crimestatistics@ons.gov.uk.

What Happens Next

We will review all of the consultation responses and use these to inform our final recommendation on the best option for making the required cost savings from the CSEW. We will publish a summary of the comments and approach chosen approximately 6 to 8 weeks after the consultation closes.

Audiences

  • Anyone from any background

Interests

  • Crime
  • Statistics
  • Data