Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to strengthen evidence-based policy-making in her Department; and what recent assessment she has made of the performance of evidence-based policies implemented by her Department since May 2010.

The Home Office recognises the importance of ensuring policies are supported by a strong evidence-base and are subject to rigorous assessment. As with all government departments, our responsibility for evidenced policy making is set out in ‘The Green Book – Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government’ published by HM Treasury.

Recognising that there is always room for improvement, we are in the process of implementing a Home Office-wide Impact Assessment Improvement Plan to ensure impact assessments provide a robust appraisal of evidence and options.

The Home Secretary recently announced the establishment of a Crime and Policing Knowledge Hub in the Home Office. One of the Hub's roles is to develop a better understanding of crime trends and crime drivers, to inform more effective crime prevention policies.

The College of Policing has been set up to act as the professional body for policing and one of its five core areas of responsibility, set out in statute, is identifying, developing and promoting good practice based on evidence. The College’s role is to seek out best practice, supported by firmly-established evidence, and to ensure officers adopt it. In addition, the College of Policing hosts the What Works Centre for Crime Reduction, one of a national network of six – including health, education, ageing, local growth and early intervention. The Centre is developing an extensive outreach programme to support evidence based decision making across crime reduction. Outreach activities include master classes, research fairs, Evidence Base Camp (engaging practitioners in evidence review) and establishing a network of evidence ‘champions’.