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2 Jun 2008 : Column 725W—continued

Equivalent data for court proceedings and cautions for fraud offences (under the old classifications) can be found in the Criminal Statistics England and Wales publication which can be accessed at:

Tables 2.8 and 2.13 show prosecutions and crown court trials for fraud and forgery and table 3.16 shows convictions and cautions for fraud and forgery broken down by offence class.

Court proceedings data for 2007 for the offences referred to above will not be available until the autumn of 2008.

With regard to information collated by the British Crime Survey on victims of such crimes, according to the 2006-07 BCS, 2 per cent. of adults had experienced their personal details being used in the last year without their permission in one or more of the ways asked about. This proportion includes those who came to know about the identity fraud, but the true figure could be higher because some respondents may not have known about the deception.

Detailed information from the 2005-06 BCS on ID fraud is contained in section 3.5 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin 10/07 entitled ‘Mobile phone theft, plastic card and identity fraud: Findings from the 2005/06 British Crime Survey’. A copy of this publication is available at:

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent evidence she has collated on the correlation between the level of crime and (a) police numbers and (b) police funding. [198506]

Mr. McNulty: There is no simple relationship between levels of crime and police numbers, and police funding. I refer the hon. Member to the recent Government response to the Home Affairs Committee—Second Special Report, Session 2006-07, Appendix: Government Response in particular page 1, response after paragraph 2:


2 Jun 2008 : Column 726W

A copy of the Government's response to the second report is available on the Parliament website on the following link:

Crime: Databases

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she expects the National Ballistics Intelligence Service Database, the National Firearms Register on the Police National Computer and the National Firearms Licensing Management System to be able to share data. [194664]

Mr. McNulty: The potential requirements for the sharing of information between the National Ballistics Intelligence Service Database (NABIS) and the National Firearms Licensing Management System was examined, and discussed, in detail by key stakeholders (including forensic and investigatory professionals) throughout the lifetime of the project management process.

It was found that the potential crossover between the data held by the systems was very small, due to the very low instances of legally held firearms being used in gun crime and the small overlap in information shared between the two applications. Furthermore, the data descriptors of ‘firearms recovered at Scenes of Crime' and ‘firearms being licensed' may be somewhat different and, as a result, inquiries would be passed from NABIS to expert firearms officers in the Licensing Departments. As a consequence, it was agreed that any risk of legally held firearms being used for criminal purposes was so low that given the difficulty of automating a matching process between systems, the cost of building such an interface would outweigh any perceived benefits.

The NABIS system has been designed to accredited police corporate data model standards, which means that information sharing may be possible in the future providing that there is a business case to do so.

Departmental Film

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many films have been produced in (a) video, (b) DVD and (c) other digital formats by her Department in the last two years; and at what cost. [202872]

Jacqui Smith: Film is used throughout the Home Office and its agencies for training purposes and to communicate with its staff. The number of films and costs is not information which is either centrally held or readily collated so could be gathered only at disproportionate cost.


2 Jun 2008 : Column 727W

Departmental Publications

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will place in the Library a copy of the most recent edition of her Department's staff handbook. [202866]

Jacqui Smith: I am arranging for a copy of the Home Office staff handbook to be placed in the Library.

Departmental Telephone Services

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public are in use by (i) her Department and (ii) agencies which report to her Department. [200128]

Mr. Byrne: The following table outlines the 0845 and 0870 telephone numbers used by the Department and the agencies that report to it. There are no 0800 telephone numbers in use.


2 Jun 2008 : Column 728W
Number Purpose Type

0870 521 0410

Passport advice line

Phone

0870 240 8090

Passport advice line (text phone service)

Minicon

0870 243 4477

Passport enquiries for High Street Partners

Phone

0870 243 1902

Passport complaints

Phone

0845 121 0046

Authentication by Interview (ABI) booking line

Phone

0845 603 7788

GRO Certificate Services

Phone

0870 125 1256

Siemens Business Services Query Letters

Phone

0870 909 0778

Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure dispute line

Phone

0870 909 0844

Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure application line

Phone

0870 909 0223

Criminal Records Bureau Welsh language line

Phone

0870 909 0344

Criminal Records Bureau

Minicon

0870 909 0811

Criminal Records Bureau general inquiries

Phone

0870 909 0822

Criminal Records Bureau registration information line

Phone

0870 241 4680

Home Office's mailing house, Prolog

Phone

0870 241 4786

Home Office's mailing house, Prolog

Fax

0870 220 2000

TOGETHER (advice line for practitioners on tackling antisocial behaviour)

Phone

0870 336 9031

Contact Private Office to Jacqui Smith

Fax

0870 336 9032

Contact Private Office to Lord West

Fax

0870 336 9033

Contact Private Office to Vernon Coaker

Fax

0870 336 9034

Contact Private Office to Liam Byrne

Fax

0870 336 9035

Contact Private Office to Tony McNulty

Fax

0870 336 9036

Contact Private Office to Meg Hillier

Fax

0870 336 9048

Contact Parliamentary Team

Fax

0870 336 9045

Contact Ministers' special advisers

Fax

0870 336 9041

Contact Private Office Management Support Unit

Fax

0870 336 9037

Contact Permanent Secretary's Office

Fax

0845 010 6677

UKBA Employers' Helpline

Phone

0845 039 8002

PROSPECTS helpline

Phone

0845 601 2298

UKBA Evidence and Enquiry line

Phone

0870 240 3781

Immigration Enquiry Bureau (enforcement and removals—recorded message only)

Phone

0845 602 1739

Enquiries about asylum support applications

Phone

0870 606 7766

Immigration Enquiry Bureau

Phone

0870 241 0645

Requests for immigration application forms

Phone

0845 010 5200

Nationality telephone enquiries

Phone

0870 521 0224

UKBA Work Permits Literature order line

Phone

0845 600 0914

Asylum Support Customer Contact Centre

Phone

0870 241 6523

Enquiries about the work of the UKBA Complaints Unit and advice to callers about how to complain

Phone

0845 602 1465

UKBA MP’s Hotline fax line

Fax

0845 601 1145

National Asylum Support fax line

Fax

0845 601 1143

National Asylum Support fax line

Fax

0845 609 0395

UKBA MP's Hotline

Phone

0845 601 1150

National Asylum Support Service/MP's Hotline

Phone

0845 010 5555

UK Visas (pre-recorded information line)

Phone


Departmental Training

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on away days for staff in her Department in each of the last five years. [202871]

Jacqui Smith: The Home Office accounting system does not separately identify expenditure on staff away days. To provide the requested detail would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Vetting

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of staff employed by her Department and its agencies had record checks processed by the Criminal Records Bureau before being made an offer of employment in each year since 2002. [205116]

Jacqui Smith: A Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check is primarily a requirement for posts that involve working with children and/or vulnerable adults. Home Office headquarters and the Criminal Records Bureau do not require staff to undergo CRB checks prior to being offered employment.

The UK Border Agency have carried out 1,449 CRB checks in total for staff since 2002. A breakdown by year could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
2 Jun 2008 : Column 729W

The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) only require staff within the Interview Office Network to undergo CRB checks. The network has been established over the past three years. The percentage of IPS staff employed who had CRB checks before being made an offer of employment in each year was as follows.

Percentage of staff

2005-06

1.6

2006-07

13.5

2007-08

1.4


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