The aim of this audit will be to assess the state, efficiency and effectiveness of crime recording by Police Scotland and the extent to which recording practice complies with the Scottish Crime Recording Standard and Scottish Government Counting Rules.

Reviews of incident and crime recording have formed a regular part of our scrutiny programme in recent years. In our Scrutiny Plan 2014-15, we stated that we would revisit incident and crime recording in 2014 and seek to provide the public and key stakeholders with greater information on which to base their assessment of the validity of crime statistics. Our intention to conduct a crime audit has been welcomed by a range of stakeholders following increasing political and media commentary and scrutiny of crime statistics in Scotland in recent months. In addition, in its assessment of police recorded crime statistics published by the Scottish Government, the UK Statistics Authority highlighted the importance of a comprehensive and independent audit of crime data.

The aim of our Crime Audit 2014 is to test the accuracy of incident and crime recording in Scotland. The results will:

• provide the public and key stakeholders with greater information on which to base their assessment of the trustworthiness and validity of crime statistics;
• highlight to Police Scotland areas of good practice or areas for improvement and/or increased internal audit and scrutiny;
• assess the extent to which recommendations made in our 2013 review of incident and crime recording have been taken into account; and
• address the need for a comprehensive, independent audit of crime data as highlighted by the UK Statistics Authority.