Scope

The audit should look to:

• Review partnership progress since the last audit and strategy. Look critically at achievements, problems and barriers and identify where current work needs to continue.

• Summarise existing partnership, multi-agency and community working in local crime and disorder reduction.

• Set out statutory obligations. Be open and clear about what options there are within obligations, and what else can be determined in partnership locally.

• Collate appropriate secondary sources - bring together existing data and information e.g. Best Value reviews, Accident and Emergency data, police crime statistics.

• Collate appropriate primary sources - where information gaps exist, establish mechanisms to collect this information e.g. public experience and fear of crime surveys.

• Co-ordinate, analyse and present the information and ongoing activities. Propose options for action.

• In consultation, identify thematic and geographic priorities for the strategy.

• Suggest areas for further work.

• Facilitate the cycle i.e. enable the strategy to be unequivocally based upon the audit and consultation.

Major issues with the crime and disorder audit are:

• knowing what should and should not be included;

• how far the information should be drilled down on each area of crime and disorder; and

• how to make sure that it remains inclusive whilst not making it over-elaborate and exhausting

The audit needs to tackle causes as well as consequences of crime. This means looking at the social and individual risk factors that contribute to crime. Unless the audit process is deliberately inclusive in approach it will not reach marginalized and hard to reach groups. It should be a priority to do so. Consultation must be an integral part of auditing crime and disorder, as consultation is an essential tool in data / information collection (and is separate from consulting people on the findings of the audit).

The Local Government Act 2000 places a responsibility on local authorities to promote the 'well-being' of communities (http://www.local-regions.detr.gov.uk/lgbill99/wellbeing.htm)
This site is still under construction. 

The audit needs to:

• Reflect issues relevant to all sections of the community.

• Recognise the broader social, environmental and economic causes of crime.

• Actively look beyond the apparent facts and figures on crime to understand its real effects on people.

• Identify priorities to target community safety activity where it is most needed.

The Getting Started section sets out the stages of the audit and provides guidance on the areas which partnerships should consider concentrating their efforts on crime and disorder reduction.

Back to The Audit Process