17 European statistics on safety
from crime
| (32921)
11664/11
COM(11) 335
| Draft Regulation on European statistics on safety from crime
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| Legal base | Article 338(1) TFEU; co-decision; QMV
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| Department | Home Office
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| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 2 April 2013
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| Previous Committee Reports | HC 428-xlvii (2010-12), chapter 16 (18 January 2012); HC 428-xxxviii (2010-12), chapter 13 (19 October 2011)
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| To be discussed in Council | No date set
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
17.1 This draft Regulation aims to implement in 2013 a survey
of the general public across the EU covering their experience
of crime and other aspects relating to public feelings of safety.
The survey is intended to supplement existing statistics on crime
sourced from police reports from the Member States. It proposes
that all Member States should implement a survey of the general
population in 2013 using the same questionnaire and methodology
with regard to information collected, population coverage, sample
size and selection, and reporting deadlines.
17.2 The data to be submitted to the Commission
covers the respondents' experience of crime by types of crime,
the details of each crime experienced, the respondents' attitudes
to law enforcement and security precautions, respondents' concerns
about safety from crime, the socio-demographic background of the
respondent. In a separate section, respondents will be asked about
their experience of violent crime, including sexual violence,
included when committed by sexual partners.
17.3 The proposed survey will be restricted to
adults (aged 16 and over) permanently resident in the household
population of a Member States. The draft Regulation requires a
minimum sample size of 8,000 persons in the UK and that the survey
will collect information on the experience, in the preceding 12
months, of being a victim of a specific range of crimes. The survey
will also be required to collect data on public views on a range
of crime-related issues, such as fear of crime and attitudes to
sentencing.
17.4 We previously reported[78]
that the Government was concerned about the scale of resources
involved in implementing the Regulation and the value of the results.
It was also concerned that the content of the proposed survey
extended beyond a core set of necessary data to support the aim
of the proposal. We agreed with the Government's reservations
and asked to be kept informed about the negotiations.
The Minister's letter of 2 April 2013
17.5 The Minister for Civil Society at the Cabinet
Office (Mr Nick Hurd) writes to say that the European Parliament
also had concerns about the proposed methodology and the value
of the survey, given the lack of concrete information on how its
results would be used in future legislative proposals. It did
not consider that the indicated expenditure of €12 million
could be justified especially in a time of such financial pressures.
As a consequence, the proposal was not adopted.
17.6 It is possible that the Commission may submit
a revised proposal, in which case the Minister will write again.
Conclusion
17.7 We welcome this outcome, trust the Commission
will not make a further proposal, and clear the document from
scrutiny.
78 See headnote. Back
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