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2 Jun 2008 : Column 725W—continued

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb1107chap2.xls

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:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/crim-stats-2006-tag.pdf

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:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb1007.pdf

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

“..... crime is affected by a range of factors and it is therefore too crude simply to compare increases in police funding with changes in crime and then draw firm conclusions about the effectiveness of the police in reducing crime-not least because increases in policing and their visibility can in fact provide the public with more confidence to report more crime incidents. Current Home Office research shows that, when controlling for some of these factors—for example changes in the economy, demography and social factors—increases in police strength, visibility and focus have had a significant impact on reducing crime.”

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

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmhaff/1092/109204.htm

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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