Transparency data

Public involvement and engagement strategy for statistics users

Published 27 August 2026

The Home Office, with its Arms’ Length Bodies (ALBs) is committed to producing high-quality, timely and relevant statistics that meet user needs in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, the Regulatory guidance – User engagement, the Public involvement and engagement in official statistics: A toolkit for statistics producers and the Government Analysis Function’s User Engagement Strategy for Statistics.

This document sets out our strategy for engaging with the users of our statistical publications.

Objectives

Our aim is to ensure that the Home Office’s Statistics are of value to our users, while informing debate and having an impact on decisions that affect our society for public good.

To identify user needs, we engage through a range of channels, exploring opportunities to add value by improving our statistics with those needs in mind, wherever practical and appropriate to do so.

In line with our publication and dissemination policy for official statistics, we aim to publish our releases in a transparent and accessible manner, creating value for the greatest range of potential users as possible. Gaining insights from our users is important for us in doing this effectively.

To meet these objectives, as statistical produces we endeavour to:

• pre-announce the time and date for the publication of our statistics
• be transparent about the methods we use to produce our analytical outputs
• be transparent about any changes or revisions made to outputs
• be open and transparent about our compliance with Code of Practice
• publish details on pre-release access for each publication

We aim to collaborate with our users to meet their needs by:

• enhancing our understanding of current and potential users and their needs
• reaching out to the widest possible range of users who can gain value from our products, for example sharing headline summaries with data providers and user forums
• consulting users on developments and changes to our statistical methodologies, publications and processes
• improving the communication of our statistics and analyses
• being innovative with our dissemination methods
• responding efficiently and accurately to questions and enquiries from our users
• processing the data we hold legally and securely
• seeking feedback from users

Our users

Our users come from a wide range of background and have diverse needs; from analysts seeking access to raw data for detailed exploration, to members of the public or decision-makers who rely on accessible summaries and clear conclusions.

Users of our statistical releases usually include:

• Home Office staff
• operational staff, for example, policing staff, border force
• other government departments
• devolved administrations
• local/regional government and other local public sector bodies
• His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS)
• Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)
• National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC)
• journalists
• academic researchers and students
• voluntary sector
• international bodies

How we engage with our users

Home Office statistics cover a variety of topic areas and so have a broad user base. We use a range of approaches to understand user needs and together insight into what they are looking for.

We hold/support annual meetings of users such as the Migration Statistics User Forum, and the British Society of Criminology Crime and Justice Statistics Network.

We use web analytics to monitor usage of statistics, to look at interest by theme and/or topic, regularity of publication. This helps us to identify what and how we will seek user feedback on:

• breadth and depth of publications
• relevance of content and format
• frequency of outputs
• ease of access and navigation
• methods used for analysis

Feedback is used to help inform the way we develop our future statistical releases. Within our releases, we invite feedback and comments from users, using a signposted email address and/or survey link.

When considering changes to the content or frequency of releases, we include short surveys alongside the release. These gather information from users on:

• what they use the statistics for
• how they use the statistics
• why they use the statistics

We include questions on potential changes to releases to gather feedback to help inform decision-making, and ensure the statistics produced provide the most value to users.

We are committed to showing users that we have listened to feedback. Therefore, following any survey or consultation we will publish a summary of findings and our resulting next steps.

To better engage with our users, we will use focus groups and targeted workshops to focus on specific issues and identify potential changes. Potential changes suggested by any feedback we receive are considered in light of whether the source data would allow such a change, whether the change would be appropriate (for example, in line with our statement on confidentiality and data security), and production staff capacity.

Where we are planning new statistics, or major changes to existing statistics, we will aim to engage with users, where possible prior to making the change. For existing statistics, this will usually be done in the preceding release of the same statistics.

We treat user engagement as an ongoing, collaborative activity using an informal iterative approach.