DD2387 SafeStats crime and community safety data portal (Phase 2)

SafeStats is a unique and secure data platform hosting a variety of crime and community safety datasets in one place and making these available to authorised analysts in the Greater London Authority (GLA) / Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), boroughs and the Metropolitan Police. The web-based portal provides instant access to this data which together provide the most rounded available picture of crime hotspots in London, and a variety of tools to use for different strategic and operational analysis. SafeStats is often used nationally and internationally as a model for sharing crime data. An example is the collaboration with Professor Jonathan Shepherd who developed the ‘Cardiff model’ showing how sharing anonymised hospital emergency department assault data between public agencies could reduce crime.

SafeStats has been built up incrementally since 2001 when it was part of the Government Office for London and has been managed and hosted by the GLA City Intelligence Unit since 2006. The London Fire Commissioner and Transport for London agreed in 2008 to pay contributions annually toward the costs of their data to be processed and hosted on the system. Such processing and hosting is governed by data sharing agreements entered into between the GLA and the London Fire Commissioner and Transport for London in 2008. The receipt and use by the GLA of such payments towards the rebuilding of Safestats and improving the service in the 2017/18 to 2019/20 financial years was approved by the Mayor under cover of MD2181.

In addition, SafeStats has been an integral part of the Home Office funded ‘Information Sharing to Tackle Violence’ project managed by MOPAC, to bring together and provide access to data on violent incidents reported to London’s 29 hospital A&E departments. Funding from MOPAC will be used to cover the processing, harmonisation and hosting of suppliers’ data and make this available securely to a large range of authorised users. These data are governed by NHS Digital data standard ISB1594.

Progress thus far in the redevelopment has been on track as per the project plan approved by the Mayor under cover of MD2181 in 2017 (and included in section 7 below). The first phase of the system rebuild is in beta-testing and should go live to users across London in autumn 2019.

The GLA contribution of £53,000 reflects wider interest in some of the IT architecture of the new system and developments that benefit other aspects of the GLA. This includes automated two-way data transfer with the existing London Datastore of publicly accessible versions of SafeStats’ crime and community safety datasets and existing public demographic and socio-economic datasets. This contribution will also allow SafeStats’ data transfer functionality to continue to align with that of the London Datastore as it moves towards version 3.0 over the next 12 months.

Supporting the Mayor’s priorities around crime and public safety, health and the economy including keeping children and young people safe, tackling violence among women and girls, cracking down on knife crime, Thrive London: Improving mental health, Building a 24 hour London, and Regeneration: Improving London’s public spaces and High Streets.

Providing data support to the Mayors’ new public health approach to violent crime, in particularly the Violence Reduction Unit.

Providing near real-time access to crime data to support operational and tactical crime reduction as well as provide an expanded range of data for strategic analysis.

A reliable modern system/service to receive, store and process data – with data that can be updated frequently or even in real-time. It will provide a flexible range of secure interactive web and data tools catering for a broad range of analysts.

It will also provide data to users via secure feeds where necessary and provision of a reliable service. It will allow an increased range of users to benefit from the system, by allowing different levels of data access.

It will provide the ability to draw on GLA Technology standards to enable better technical support.

It will provide access to data that are not otherwise available to analysts and GLA Group members for example, ambulance service and hospital accident and emergency records.

The GLA must have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to the need to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not, under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. This involves having due regard to the need to remove or minimise any disadvantage suffered by those who share a relevant protected characteristic that is connected to that characteristic, taking steps to meet the different needs of such people; and encouraging them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low.

Safestats meets this public sector equality duty in two ways: advancing equality of opportunity and fostering good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not through analysis conducted using the data (see 3.3 below) and through robust data governance to prevent discrimination.

Analysis conducted using the data further the Mayor’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategic objective of a “safe, healthy and enjoyable city”. The driving force of analysis conducted by organisations accessing Safestats data is to improve the lives of Londoners, victims of crime, identifying the vulnerable, and assist in the enforcement of those who seek to harm.

The data provided to Safestats users does not include any protected characteristics or other personal data. Access to and use of the data is governed by Data Sharing Agreements which set out the legal basis governing and conditions for access and use of the data by authorised public sector organisations and individuals within these organisations and the system includes data security processes which log and audit use of the data accordingly.

Without continuation of this project over this period and the implementation of the additional functionality, it is unlikely that the increasing proportion of userbase from non-analytical backgrounds will be unable to source required outputs. This would mean that boroughs are less likely to use these data in their work as it will become much more difficult to source the data in the required format. Policy/borough strategies are consequently less likely to be informed by evidence.

Not continuing the project beyond this stage may result in a reputational risk to the GLA around its commitment to aspects of the Police and Crime Plan, such as the integration of the mapped data related to the Information Sharing to Tackle Violence project.

In not delivering the expected functionality within the project, there is a risk to discussions with user organisations related to the ongoing funding of the service.

Approval is sought for the receipt and expenditure of £93,000 comprising: £40,000 (revenue funding) from MOPAC; and £53,000 in GLA funding, for the continued provision of the SafeStats crime data service.

The £53,000 will be funded from the 2019-20 Demography and Policy Analysis Team’s budget within the City Intelligence Unit.

The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decision requested of the Executive Director falls within the statutory powers of the GLA to promote and/or to do anything which is facilitative of or conducive or incidental to the promotion of social development in Greater London and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have set out above how they have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:

- pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;

- consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and

- consult with appropriate bodies.

Section 31(1) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the “GLA Act”) prohibits the GLA from incurring expenditure on activity which may be undertaken by functional bodies. Section 31(6) of the GLA Act however, permits such expenditure where it relates to the cooperation with or the facilitation or coordination of activity of such bodies. Officers have indicated at section 1 (above) of this report that the expenditure proposed concerns such cooperation and is facilitative of the coordination or activity.

In taking the decisions requested of him, the Executive Director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Executive Director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

With the consent of the Mayor, functional bodies may provide a revenue grants to the GLA (section 121 of the GLA Act. The GLA’s “Mayoral Decision Making in the Greater London Authority” document (the “Scheme of Delegation”) specifies only however, that the granting of such consent is reserved to the Mayor where the value of a grant is equal to or exceeds £150,000.00. Accordingly, the Executive Director, acting pursuant to the Scheme of Delegation, may approve the making by MOPAC of the revenue grant proposed and the GLA’s receipt of the same. Officers are reminded that, in accordance with section 121 of the GLA Act, no conditions may be imposed upon the GLA’s use of the funds other than that the funds must not be used for capital expenditure.

Officers must ensure that the expenditure proposed is administered in accordance with the requirements of the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code.