Recorded crime in Scotland: 2018-2019

Annex 4: User Engagement

7.31. These statistics are used by a large number of stakeholders within central government, the police and other public bodies for a variety of purposes.

7.32. Crime statistics are also used by a variety of external stakeholders. Examples of such uses are:

• Utility companies who wish to assess the safety of an area before sending employees out into the public;
• Insurance companies assessing the risk of crime in different areas;
• Local authority planning;
• National and local journalism;
• Academic research; and
• Students and school pupils writing dissertations and carrying out projects.

7.33. We will continue to consult with the users of the National Statistics in order to get a better understanding of who the users are and what their requirements are for both the data and the presentation of these statistics.

7.34. As part of this work, we are currently running a consultation on behalf of the Scottish Crime Recording Board. This is looking into how the National Statistics are presented and invites user views on some potential changes in approach to the grouping structure outlined above in Section 2.4. The consultation closes on the 8^th October 2019. Further information on this consultation can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/consultation-official-statistics-present-information-recorded-crime-related-topics/

A report on the results of our earlier consultation, conducted from April to June 2015 can be found at the link below: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/scotstatcrime/ StakeCon/RCUC2015.

7.35. We always welcome feedback on the content and the uses made of our statistical bulletins and users are invited to submit their comments and any suggestions for improvement to: justiceanalysts@gov.scot.

If you would like to be kept informed about developments in crime statistics, we suggest registering with ScotStat: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/scotstat.

7.36. Further information on users and uses of the statistics is available in the User Guide to Recorded Crime Statistics in Scotland, which can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubRecorded Crime/UserGuide.