Former Home Secretary, Rt Hon David Blunkett MP, has responded to Police Minister Nick Herbert’s interview on The World At One, in which Mr Herbert said the Labour Government altered the method by which crime figures are collated.
In fact, the previous Government did not change the methodology – it was altered by the Association of Chief Police Officers in 2001 in a move neither initiated nor approved by government at the time.
Mr Blunkett said: “When I became Home Secretary, I inherited the change brought in by ACPO.
“It undoubtedly caused some confusion and led to an immediate jump in the number of recorded crimes.
“However, the British Crime Survey has undergone no such alteration and compares like entirely with like. It demonstrates exactly the same trend of falling crime in the last year as the police survey of recorded crime, which has not been recently altered, as implied by the Police Minister.
“I do think it is important than ministers firstly understand the history that they are dealing with and secondly, as a direct corollary, tell the truth.”
ENDS
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