GWENT’S police and crime commissioner was unable to give evidence to a Parliamentary inquiry on crime statistics last week because he was abroad on holiday.

Ian Johnston told the Argus earlier this year that police in Gwent may not be recording crime properly, and that in some cases officers were logging incidents as ones that were less serious.

Paul Flynn, MP for Newport West, told the Argus that Mr Johnston had been invited to speak at the House of Commons’ Public Administration Committee, of which Mr Flynn is a member.

Last week the committee heard evidence on how police may manipulate crime statistics to get them down.

“The first person we invited to the committee was Ian Johnston,” said Mr Flynn, who said Mr Johnston was “more prominent than anyone else” on the issue of crime statistics.

“It was disappointing that he didn’t turn up.”

However, Mr Johnston’s deputy confirmed the invitation came after the PCC had booked annual leave.

Earlier this year Mr Johnston said that if crime statistics were correct, public confidence would be higher than it is.

The article sparked a public dispute with the former chief constable, Carmel Napier, who said the claim could demoralise staff.

Ms Napier was later forced to retire by Mr Johnston, who has since appointed Jeff Farrar to replace her.

Mr Farrar, who is also the national lead on crime statistics, is set to give evidence to the committee’s inquiry on December 11.

Last week he said pressures on police services to meet targets could lead to crimes being recorded inaccurately, among other reasons.

But he said: “Nobody joins the police service with the intention of recording crime inaccurately”.

Paul Harris, deputy police and crime commissioner for Gwent, told the Argus: “I can confirm Ian Johnston is on annual leave. This was arranged prior to his invitation to attend the Public Administration Committee hearing on crime statistics.

“Ian has previously discussed his thoughts on crime statistics with the Argus. A review of crime recording has been carried out in Gwent and the findings will be reported to the Police and Crime Panel next month. It would be inappropriate for me to comment further on the review until that meeting.”