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13 July 2009 : Column 138W—continued

Criminal Records Bureau

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have undergone (a) two, (b) three, (c) four and (c) five or more standard or enhanced Criminal Records Bureau checks in the last (i) three, (ii) six and (iii) 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [286096]

Mr. Hanson: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) does not hold data to show the number of individuals who have been required to apply for more than one Disclosure.

It is ultimately for each recruiting organisation and not the CRB to decide whether a fresh Disclosure should be applied for. The recruiting organisation, using a full range of pre-recruitment checks, is best placed to assess whether a new Disclosure is required for a specific position, bearing in mind their legal and other responsibilities. Organisations can accept a previously issued Disclosure at their own risk but they must understand the limitations and risks of doing so.


13 July 2009 : Column 139W

Guidance can be found on the CRB website at:

but the overriding consideration must always be the safety of those whom the Disclosure Service is designed to protect.

Cybercrime

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions have been made consequent on investigations by the E-Crime Unit of the Serious Organised Crime Agency. [278434]

Alan Johnson: The mandate of SOCA's e-Crime Department is to reduce the harm caused to the UK by online crime. It is resourced to address the threat of technology-enabled crime, and in particular to degrade criminal capability to

From April 2006 until March 2009 the Serious Organised Crime Agency's e-Crime unit was involved in

Prosecution is however only one of a number of tools available to help achieve harm reduction in line with the Home Secretary's priorities in this area. Resources are directed also to the development of new intervention techniques, to disrupt and deny criminal opportunities worldwide and to work with international partners. Similarly these techniques include work with internet protocol registrars and others involved in regulating the internet and the influencing of future legislation. The aim is not just to pursue the criminals involved, many of whom operate beyond the reach of our courts but also provide long-term solutions for harm reduction on the internet. The SOCA 2008-09 annual report recorded significant operational successes by the e-Crime unit, notably against DarkMarket and the Sumitomo Banking Corporation.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP) was involved over the same period in the investigation of offences of alleged child abuse where technology may have been a factor.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent progress has been made towards ratification of the European Convention on Cybercrime; and if he will make a statement. [283483]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The Government are fully committed to ratifying the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention. We are currently working through the formal UK process of ratification, during which we will lay the required explanatory memorandum before Parliament to obtain approval for ratification. If Parliament agrees to ratification,
13 July 2009 : Column 140W
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will then commence the formal ratification process with the Council of Europe.

The Government had hoped to complete this process earlier in the year, but due to extended discussions with the devolved administrations and with legal advisors this has not been possible. We do not believe that further legislation will be necessary before we can proceed. We hope to complete the Parliamentary process shortly.

Departmental Information Officers

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to his Department of employing press office staff other than press officers has been in each year since 1997. [283085]

Mr. Woolas: Staff employed in the Home Office press office other than press officers include staff in administrative and management roles. The following table which is based on our records provides the costs of these staff each year since 1997.

Cost (£)

1997-98

258,650

1998-99

191,334

1999-2000(1)

215,431

2000-01

328,688

2001-02

244,309

2002-03

428,276

2003-04

443,509

2004-05

(2)423,061

2005-06

560,715

2006-07

474,324

2007-08

501,390

2008-09

573,322

(1 )Prison Service and Core Home Office Press Offices merged.
(2 )Exact costs of management 2004-05 are not available-management costs included here are the same as 2003-04.

Departmental Procurement

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes have been made to his Department's (a) office equipment and (b) stationery purchasing policy in the last six months. [285314]

Mr. Woolas: The Department has made no changes to its (a) office equipment and (b) stationery purchasing policy in the last six months.

The Department participates in cross-government collaborative arrangements for office equipment and stationery that include built-in incremental benefits. Additionally, the Department regularly engages with the market to ensure that the objective of value for money is achieved.

Departmental Training

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how much his Department has spent on staff training in health and safety procedures in each of the last five years; [278142]

(2) how much his Department has spent on health and safety training for its employees in each of the last two years. [284112]


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Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

DNA: Databases

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many new profiles have been added to the National DNA Database by each police force since 4 December 2008; and if he will make a statement. [285742]

Mr. Alan Campbell: The figures in Table 1 show the number of subject profiles added to the National DNA Database (NDNAD) by forces in England and Wales between 5 December 2008 and 8 July 2009, broken down by police forces.

The figures in Table 2 show the number of crime scene profiles added to the NDNAD by forces in England and Wales between 5 December 2008 and 8 July 2009, broken down by the police forces.

The number of subject profiles held on the NDNAD is not the same as the number of individuals. A proportion of DNA profiles held on the NDNAD are replicates, that is, a profile for a person has been loaded on more then one occasion (this may be because the person gave different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests, or because of upgrading of profiles). It is currently estimated that 13.5 per cent. of subject profiles held on the NDNAD are replicates. The replication rate of 13.5 per cent. should only be applied over the entire database however, as the replication rate for individual forces varies considerably. The presence of these replicate profiles on the NDNAD does not impact on the effectiveness and integrity of the database.


13 July 2009 : Column 142W
Table 1: Subject profiles added to the NDNAD between 5 December 2008 and 8 July 2009
Force Number

Avon and Somerset

7,429

Bedfordshire

4,168

British Transport

3,687

Cambridgeshire

3,188

Cheshire

4,292

City of London Police

911

Cleveland

3,219

Cumbria

2,850

Derbyshire

4,436

Devon and Cornwall

7,259

Dorset

2,857

Durham

2,720

Dyfed-Powys

2,224

Essex

9,066

Gloucestershire

3,678

Greater Manchester Police

14,255

Gwent

2,466

Hampshire

8,198

Hertfordshire

4,938

Humberside

5,026

Kent

8,739

Lancashire

8,663

Leicestershire

3,532

Lincolnshire

3,557

Merseyside

19,148

Metropolitan Police

50,331

Norfolk

3,030

North Wales

3,597

North Yorkshire

3,468

Northamptonshire

2,787

Northumbria

9,623

Nottinghamshire

6,137

South Wales Constabulary

6,297

South Yorkshire

6,598

Staffordshire

7,516

Suffolk

3,515

Surrey

3,225

Sussex

6,049

Thames Valley

11,502

Warwickshire Police

1,886

West Mercia

4,490

West Midlands

16,169

West Yorkshire

11,516

Wiltshire

3,227

Total

301,469



13 July 2009 : Column 143W
Table 2: Crime scene profiles added to the NDNAD between 5 December 2008 and 8 July 2009
Force Number

Avon and Somerset

533

Bedfordshire

241

British Transport

303

Cambridgeshire

410

Cheshire

565

City of London Police

26

Cleveland

154

Cumbria

208

Derbyshire

329

Devon and Cornwall

408

Dorset

212

Durham

315

Dyfed-Powys

91

Essex

597

Gloucestershire

191

Greater Manchester Police

2,289

Gwent

266

Hampshire

702

Hertfordshire

419

Humberside

571

Kent

1,484

Lancashire

1,091

Leicestershire

421

Lincolnshire

193

Merseyside

825

Metropolitan Police

4,003

Norfolk

379

North Wales

502

North Yorkshire

169

Northamptonshire

558

Northumbria

835

Nottinghamshire

419

South Wales Constabulary

482

South Yorkshire

662

Staffordshire

618

Suffolk

280

Surrey

458

Sussex

1,091

Thames Valley

1,046

Warwickshire Police

169

West Mercia

462

West Midlands

1,360

West Yorkshire

969

Wiltshire

161

Total

27,467


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