Background Local policing information
55.Amongst the issues addressed in the Government’s police reform Green Paper ‘Policing: Building Safer Communities Together’, published in November 2003 (available at www.policereform.gov.uk) was the need for forces and police authorities to provide better information about community safety. The consultation sought views on the kind of information about policing that communities would find most useful, and how this information can be most usefully distributed. The responses to the consultation, which were published in September 2004, indicated broad agreement that information on policing should be made more accessible to the public to enable them to better understand what is happening in their area and engage effectively with the police.
56.In the police reform White Paper, ‘Building Communities, Beating Crime: a better police service for the 21st century’ (Cm 6360, November 2004), the Government indicated that it regarded the dissemination to the public of better information about community safety and policing as being a necessary first step towards increasing local engagement and accountability. To this end, the White Paper signalled the Government’s intention to introduce statutory minimum requirements in terms of what each household can expect to receive by way of local policing information.