Nick Smith MP has welcomed Gwent Police’s improved commitment to real crime figures, but urged more still has to be done.

The HMIC have published a report on crime data integrity that has savaged the police across Britain for a 19% under-recording rate of crime.

As part of the study, Gwent Police were judged to have recorded 58 crimes out of 67 -; a 13.5% underrecording rate.

However, it follows on from Gwent Police’s own internal review in summer 2013 that revealed 25 out of 50 crimes hadn’t been recorded properly, prompting assurances from the police that they were looking at their internal processes to fix any problems.

In addition, the HMIC found Gwent Police had a 100% record when classifying a situation as not a crime -; one of only two forces to do so.

Speaking after the release of the figures, the Blaenau Gwent MP said while things were not perfect big steps had clearly been taken in comparison to elsewhere in the country.

“It’s important that HMIC have conducted this study of police activity across the country. It is vital that we have confidence in our police because that hasn’t been the case in a while”, he said.

“Myself and colleagues put Gwent Police through the wringer in recent years because we cared about the people they serve. As a result, I’m pleased that in the HMIC’s study they found that not a single case Gwent Police had classed as a no-crime was incorrectly classified.

“While asking for a perfect record may be a tall order, Gwent Police should continue to strive for perfection and maintain public confidence as a result.

“For the future we must try to make sure that a strong emphasis is given to supporting victims.

“I have championed this in the past following several difficulties faced by constituents, and I am glad Gwent Police are also pushing this agenda forward.”