HC Deb 19 July 1988 vol 137 cc564-9W
Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many accesses there were to each index of the police national computer over the last year; whether he will include in these statistics an indication of the number of access requests that could search more than one index; and what is the predicted use of each index when the new police national computer is installed.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

The total number of accesses to each of the indices of the police national computer in the year to 30 June 1988 was as follows:

Index Number of accesses
1. Stolen and Suspect Vehicles 19,133,179
2. Vehicle Owners
3. Chassis/Engine Numbers 508,442
4. Fingerprints 202,692
5. Fingerprints—Scene of Crime 14,693
6. Criminal Names 0
7. Wanted/Missing Persons 1,854,126
8. Disqualified Drivers 838,789
9. Convictions 537,300
10. Major Convictions 77,660
11. Crime Pattern Analysis 304,850
There have also been the following joint accesses:
To indices 6 and 9 1,271,769
To indices 6, 7 and 9 1,720,781
To indices 6, 7, 8 and 9 6,768,307
To indices 4, 6 and 9 536,444

Sub Category Numbers of cases on 30 June 1988 Maximum in last 12 months Minimum in last 12 months
1. Lost or Stolen 378,745 378,745 358,603
2. Obtained by Deception 247 373 247
3. Found or apparently abandoned 25,325 29,351 25,325
4. Removed to police custody 16,225 18,460 15,198
5. Removed by police from one street to another 184 294 95
6. Suspected of being involved in a particular incident (e.g. crime) 1,094 1,483 1,094
7. Owned or used by police 3,608 5,371 3,528
8. Of interest to police (need not be crime related) 15,826 19,808 15,776
9. Seen or checked by police in noteworthy circumstances 7,339 8,796 7,338
10. Details not to be passed over open airwaves (e.g. vehicles used in observation duties) 5,286 5,286 4,669

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current size of each category found in the wanted and missing person's index of the police national computer over the last year; and whether he will include in these statistics an indication of the minimum and maximum size of each category in the index over the year.

Sub category Numbers of cases on 30 June 1988 Maximum in last 12 months Minimum in last 12 months
1. Wanted 33,601 33,601 31,166
2. Failed to appear 25,958 25,958 21,598
3. Suspect 4,801 4,802 4,398
4. Impending prosecution 61 76 45
5. Deserters 1,900 2,112 1,845
6. Locate 33,284 36,989 33,284
7. Missing 2,175 2,332 1,999
8. Found 15 23 6
9. Absconders:
—care 465 602 455
—hospital 56 59 34
—detention 3 8 2
—youth custody 105 114 84
—prison 559 559 487
—remand 6 13 5
—school 67 67 33
10. Recall
—detention 0 0 0

The use of each index is not expected to change significantly as a result of the introduction of the replacement police national computer.

All accesses to the criminal names index are shown as joint accesses in the above table, as requests for criminal names information will in addition automatically generate information from the convictions application.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current size of each category found in the stolen and suspect vehicle index of the police national computer over the last year; and whether he will include in these statistics an indication of the minimum and maximum size of each category in the index over the year.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

The current number of cases and the maximum and minimum number of cases in the year to 30 June 1988 for each of the sub categories of the stolen and suspect vehicle index of the police national computer are as follows:

Mr. Douglas Hogg

The current number of cases and the maximum and minimum number of cases in the year to 30 June 1988 for each of the sub categories of the wanted and missing persons index of the police national computer are as follows:

Sub category Numbers of cases on 30 June 1988 Maximum in last 12 months Maximum in last 12 months
—youth custody 2 2 0
—prison 262 262 238

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current size of each index of the police national computer over the last year; and whether he will include in these statistics an indication of the minimum and maximum size of each index.

Index Numbers of records on 30 June 1988 Maximum in last 12 months Minimum in last 12 months
1. Stolen and suspect vehicles 459,333 462,227 445,708
2. Vehicle owners 38,309,721 38,309,721 35,613,466
3. Chassis (engine numbers) 752,610 752,610 714,544
4. Fingerprints 3,870,485 3,870,485 3,757,955
5. Fingerprint scene of crime 7,297,687 7,297,687 6,955,054
6. Criminal names 5,286,429 5,286,429 5,168,573
7. Wanted/missing persons 106,687 106,687 100,137
8. Disqualified drivers 360,470 360,470 327,896
9. Convictions 2,479,488 2,479,488 1,942,025
10. Major investigations 299,429 299,429 248,435
11. Crime pattern analysis 14,537 14,537 13,896

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many accesses there were to each category of the stolen and suspect vehicle index of the police national computer over the last year; what has been the percentage growth in use of these categories over the year; and what is the predicted use of each category when the new police national computer is installed.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

Though the index of stolen and suspect vehicles comprises records of vehicles in various categories, the records are not kept in these separate categories but are indexed by vehicle registration number. It is not therefore possible to give the information in the form requested, but in all there were 19,133,179 accesses to the stolen and suspect vehicle index of the police national computer in the year to 30 June 1988, a decrease of 1 per cent. over the previous year. The use of the index is not expected to change significantly as a result of the introduction of the replacement police national computer.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many accesses there were to each category of the wanted and missing person's index of the police national computer over the last year; what has been the percentage growth in use of these categories over the year; and what is the predicted use of each category when the new police national computer is installed.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

Though the wanted and missing persons index of the police national computer comprises records of persons in various categories, the records are not kept in these separate categories, but are indexed by names. It is not therefore possible to give the information in the form requested, but in all there were 10,343,214 accesses to the wanted and missing persons index of the police national computer in the year to 30 June 1988, a decrease of 11 per cent. over the previous year. The use of the index is not expected to change significantly as a result of the introduction of the replacement police national computer.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has as to the number of

Mr. Douglas Hogg

The current number of records and the maximum and minimum number of records in the year to 30 June 1988 for each substantive index of the police national computer are as follows:

accesses made to the police national computer by each constabulary over the last year; and whether he will give the proportion of access requests made to the vehicle indexes of the police national computer.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

This information is collected on the basis of occasional monthly samples, and annual totals are not therefore available. The last sample was taken in February 1988. In that month, the number of transactions made to the police national computer by each constabulary, and the proportion of these transactions which were made to the vehicle indexes on the PNC were as follows:

Constabulary 1Number 2Proportion
Avon and Somerset 68,115 62.4
Bedfordshire 26,311 66.4
British Transport Police 10,693 32.0
Cambridgeshire 23,602 62.6
Central 3,527 59.1
Cheshire 29,736 56.3
City of London 7,882 66.9
Cleveland 12,033 51.7
Cumbria 441 34.0
Derbyshire 36,140 65.5
Devon and Cornwall 44,465 54.4
Dorset 24,664 57.8
Dumfries 2,490 46.3
Durham 30,684 55.6
Dyfed-Powys 13,185 44.9
Essex 77,689 61.2
Fife 9,980 56.0
Gloucestershire 20,640 64.6
Grampian 17,981 58.0
Greater Manchester 138,236 64.0
Gwent 14,171 60.9
Hampshire 60,528 55.0
Hertfordshire 26,687 50.8
Humberside 34,861 53.8
Isle of Man 1,083 31.7
Kent 97,629 60.3
Lancashire 76,722 57.4
Leicestershire 26,344 55.8
Lincolnshire 16,011 61.2
Lothian and Borders 30,910 64.8
Merseyside 49,829 87.3
Metropolitan 392,272 65.4
Norfolk 25,607 72.1

Constabulary 1Number 2Proportion
North Wales 18,884 55.5
North Yorkshire 39,560 62.2
Northamptonshire 21,737 72.2
Northern 7,440 63.3
Northumbria 62,444 64.9
Nottinghamshire 48,272 70.8
South Wales 55,859 68.3
South Yorkshire 46,723 67.1
Staffordshire 29,228 58.3
Strathclyde 86,377 36.7
Suffolk 21,749 61.9
Surrey 34,398 54.1
Sussex 65,737 48.7
Tayside 6,985 62.6
Thames Valley 73,135 56.8
Warwickshire 18,478 64.8
West Mercia 36,446 60.8
West Midlands 139,043 68.9
West Yorkshire 68,658 59.3
Wiltshire 25,046 68.4
1 Transactions in February 1988.
2 Transactions made to vehicle indexes.

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