Asked by: Baroness Greengross (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Office for National Statistics removed the upper age limit from the Crime Survey for England and Wales; and when the statistics from this survey relating to those aged 75 and older will be published.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
20 January 2021
Dear Baroness Greengross,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) removed the upper age limit from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW); and when the statistics from this survey relating to those aged 75 and older will be published (HL12104).
The CSEW is a face-to-face victimisation survey which asks people aged 16 and over resident in households in England and Wales about their experiences of a range of crimes. Self-completion modules are included on the survey to collect information on topic areas that respondents could feel uncomfortable talking to an interviewer about. The upper age limit for respondents eligible for the self-completion modules of the CSEW was increased from 59 years to 74 years in April 2017. This is different to the main face-to-face part of the survey which has no upper age limit.
In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it was necessary to move the CSEW from a face-to-face survey to a telephone-only survey (by which it may be referred to differently as the TCSEW, or “Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales”, in publications). As a result, we are currently not asking questions around any sensitive topics, including domestic abuse and sexual assault, because of ethical and safeguarding concerns with this new mode of delivery.
Once it is possible to return to the face-to-face mode of delivery, we will immediately remove the upper age limit for respondents to the self-completion modules, in the interests of inclusivity. It will then take at least 12 months of data collection to enable us to produce accurate victimisation estimates for adults aged 75 and over.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Asked by: Baroness Greengross (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support older veterans who are facing social isolation and loneliness; and how they plan to ensure that such veterans are treated equitably with those of working age.
Answered by Lord True - Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
In the Strategy for our Veterans Consultation Response published in January 2020, we committed to exploring how veterans could benefit from initiatives developed and invested in through the cross-Government Tackling Loneliness agenda. The Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) is working with colleagues across Government to develop new initiatives to support veterans of all ages who are facing social isolation.
The Government recognises the important role that the charity sector plays in supporting and connecting with vulnerable and isolated veterans on the ground. In light of COVID-19, the Government awarded £6 million in emergency COVID-19 funding to 100 Service charities, to ensure that they could continue to provide vital services to the Armed Forces community throughout the pandemic. This is in addition to £10 million awarded yearly through the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, which provides specific funding to organisations through grants programmes. This includes a current grant programme to identify and support charities working to tackle loneliness in the Armed Forces community. Previous recipients of grant funding include Veterans Breakfast Clubs, Age UK and a number of other organisations who support older and socially isolated veterans.
The OVA has also commissioned new research looking at the specific impact of COVID-19 on the veteran community, including in terms of isolation and loneliness. This will allow policy makers to understand how the pandemic has affected the veteran community and respond with evidence-based and targeted interventions.