"A massive opportunity to make roads safer": Police reveal councils don't currently have access to close pass data, as cyclist urges forces and local authorities to work together

Should councils have access to police close pass data in order to assist in planning infrastructure to make the roads safer? That's the question a cyclist has posed after discovering his local council cannot currently access information such as close pass reports made to the area's police force.

It is something that, from the outside, sounds like an easy win for all involved; the local authorities who have to propose, plan, design and implement roads schemes and policies under tight financial and time restrictions benefitting from another source of information to inform projects. For example, noticing patterns in close pass data such as where most incidents occur, which roads in their area are particularly bad or most dangerous for cyclists — all making sure bike lanes and other infrastructure is built in the right places.

For the police, better infrastructure in more optimal locations and designed to keep cyclists safe would likely address commonly occurring issues on often-cited routes, presumably reducing reports and the demand on the force to respond.

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In fact, as road.cc reader Stef Marazzi suggested to us, it seems so intuitive that there would be information-sharing between police forces and councils, he had always assumed this was already the case. 

He explained how he asked South Gloucestershire Council "if they actually used any of the close pass data the police get from thousands of close pass submissions?"

"I was always under the understanding that it was shared, but it's not," Stef continued. "It seems like such a massive opportunity to make the roads safer, by mapping out where there are close passes to improve the roads. Otherwise, how on earth can they plan where to put safer paths if they completely ignore a load of data from thousands and thousands of close passes that's been available for years?"

Despite being South Gloucestershire by name, much of the area's policing is covered by Avon & Somerset Police, the force explaining to us that ideally convenient data access would be available to councils and the public.

Close pass on cyclists during training ride, County Down (credit: Twitter: @CyclingDown))

A spokesperson said they happily share any data when it is requested but that councils "do not currently have direct access to our Qlik system".

"We provide close pass data whenever it is requested and continue to make this offer," they said. "We have a longstanding desire to create a public-facing platform for both the public and local authorities to have access to this data. Although it is a complex project, it is one we are actively exploring. There is no national standard for the provision of police data to councils, but we recognise its benefits and continue to provide it as needed."

When we contacted South Gloucestershire Council for their thoughts a spokesperson said the police would be best placed to comment, however the responses to the local authority's cycle forum shows the council's desire for access to the data as soon as possible.

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Stef had taken the chance to ask the council: "If they actually used any of the close pass data the police get from thousands of close pass submissions?"

The reply to his question stated: "Our Road Safety team have confirmed that Avon & Somerset Police hold this data on a database called Qlik. It was anticipated that local authorities would have access to this database but this has not yet happened. Local authorities can request reports from the police but this tends to be high-level and doesn't include close pass data. The team will continue to press for access to the Qlik database."

It was also suggested that council staff could access some close pass data via other means, such as through the UpRide incident database which could be "a useful source of data", but this data is not direct from the police reports.

In the autumn it was revealed that Avon & Somerset Police received the most Operation SNAP reports between 2021 and 2024, with 19,949, the force having received 8,498 reports in 2023/24 alone.

Cyclist films close pass and phone use (credit: magnatom/YouTube)

Of the nearly 20,000 reports, 12,154 (61 per cent) came from cyclists, with 4,662 of the total 19,949 leading to a Notice of Intended Prosecution being served. In total, 85 per cent of the reports made by cyclists led to "some form of action" (in comparison to a quarter of submissions from motorists that were dismissed), while almost a third of the force's reports came from Bristol.

In February, responding to the growing number of reports, Avon and Somerset Police said the local community is "speaking really loudly" about dangerous behaviour on the roads.

Chief inspector Rob Cheeseman said: "I think that's due to just how more popular certain camera use is. The goal is not to be targeting drivers unnecessarily – the ultimate goal is making the roads safer for everyone in Avon and Somerset."