STATISTICS showing the amount of violent crime in Gwent should be ‘rationalised’ due to concerns they can present a ‘misleading’ picture, councillors have said.

A Torfaen council report outlines the amount of violent crime in each month from January 2020 across areas of Gwent, and in each council ward in the Torfaen borough.

The figures were presented as the council considers plans to comply with a new serious violence duty which is being enacted by the UK Government this year.

A total of 355 violent crimes were recorded in Torfaen last month, the highest recorded in any month going back to January 2020.

However there have been changes to the way crimes are recorded, with some smaller offences now incorporated into violent crime, a meeting of Torfaen council’s prosperous overview and scrutiny committee heard on Tuesday.

Cllr Nick Jones said the data appeared to be “quite misleading” and that it could lull people into “a false sense of security or into a false sense of panic”.

Croesyceiliog south, for example, has seen a 600 per cent monthly increase in violent crime, but the number has only gone up from one to seven.

Other areas may have higher numbers but no increase, with Llantarnam staying at 43 crimes in January and February cited as an example.

Cllr Jones said any crime is “one too much” but that statistics needed to be viewed in perspective.

“The one thing I’m particularly concerned about is not painting too adverse a picture of Torfaen, because we are perhaps in perspective relatively lucky compared to even our immediate neighbours and certainly on a much wider UK scale,” he said.

Cllr John Killick said a discussion should be held with councillors about “how to rationalise statistics in order that they are meaningful and useful”.

“We should have a good look at what statistics are useful and what we can cease using,” he said.

Cllr Fay Jones said there have been some serious domestic violence crimes in her ward.

Cllr Jones said statistics could be used to examine the causes of domestic violence and whether data supports more funding being allocated to stop crime happening.

Cllr Nick Jones said he was not suggesting the authority should ‘hide statistics.

He said there are internal statistics which are useful for the police and local authorities, and external stats which are helpful for the public and for the “painting of the picture”.