HC Deb 14 March 1989 vol 149 cc150-2W
Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how people who took part in the recent Home Office telephone survey relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales were chosen.

Mr. John Patten

Those interviewed in the recent Home Office telephone survey were chosen from listings of randomly generated England and Wales telephone numbers. This maintained the confidentiality of the name and address of the respondent. The sample in England and Wales—2,000 men and women—was chosen to be a representative cross-section of those aged 16 or over.

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether surveys similar to the recent telephone survey by the Home Office relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales have been conducted under its auspices in the past.

Mr. John Patten

Surveys similar to the recent telephone survey have been conducted in the past under Home Office auspices, though this is the first occasion on which telephone interviewing has been used. Other surveys have used face-to-face interviewing with similar questions asked. The British crime survey was conducted in England and Wales in 1982, 1984 and 1988 (and in Scotland in 1982 and 1988). The Home Office has also commissioned surveys to measure criminal victimisation at the more local level. Telephone interviewing was used in the current survey because it was less expensive than face-to-face interviewing, but mainly because it allowed greater standardisation of field work methods across the participating countries.

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the questions that were asked in the recent telephone survey by the Home Office relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales.

Mr. John Patten

The questionnaire contained questions about respondents' experience of eight crimes—vehicle theft from, bicycle theft, theft vehicles, vandalism to vehicles, burglary, thefts of personal property, robbery, and assault. Additionally, women were asked about sexual assault. Other questions asked included fear of crime, satisfaction with local policing, and crime prevention behaviour. Some social-demographic information was also collected.

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about the recent telephone survey by the Home Office relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales.

Mr. John Patten

The Home Office research and planning unit (who acted as co-ordinator for the survey in England and Wales, and to whom respondents were referred if they had any queries) received about 50 calls from people who were either interested in confirming that the survey was bona fide, or wished to know why questions on household security had been asked. No one in England and Wales complained directly about the sexual assault question. One person wrote to the Home Office for confirmation that the interview she had given was part of a survey which the Home Office had commissioned.

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the purpose of the recent telephone survey by the Home Office relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales.

Mr. John Patten

The survey in England and Wales was conducted as part of an international exercise in which 15 countries have so far taken part. The countries are mainly those from the European Community, though the United States, Canada and Australia have also participated. Because of problems in comparing levels of crime across countries using information on recorded crime, the international survey used an identical questionnaire and highly standardised sample selection and field work methods to provide a comparable measure of levels of victimisation. Sexual harassment was one of nine forms of victimisation which women in the same were asked about. The survey also aims to compare attitudes to and responses to crime in the different countries.

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps were taken to protect the confidentiality of respondents to the recent telephone survey by the Home Office relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales.

Mr. John Patten

The names and addresses of those interviewed in the recent telephone survey on crime in England and Wales were not known to interviewers as they were contacted through randomly generated telephone numbers. The Home Office do not know (and will not know) which telephone numbers were called. The full confidentiality of the information obtained was explained by the interviewers to potential respondents before seeking their agreement to take part.

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what qualifications the people who carried out the recent telephone survey by the Home Department relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales had.

Mr. John Patten

Interviewers in the company which conducted the recent telephone survey in England and Wales (and Scotland) are experienced in interviewing for research purposes. They had undergone a full training programme for telephone interviewing and operate under the Market Research Society's code of conduct. There was also a full briefing for interviewers by a female Home Office survey expert in which the special features of this survey were emphasised.

Mrs. Ray Michie

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps were taken to ensure that respondents to the recent telephone survey by the Home Office relating to sexual harassment in England and Wales were made aware of the voluntary nature of the survey.

Mr. John Patten

The interviews were carried out according to the Market Research Society's code of conduct which requires that respondents must be made aware of the voluntary nature of all surveys. Respondents were allowed the opportunity to decline to take part before the interview began. Respondents were also given the opportunity to check that the survey was bona fide. In England and Wales, one person in two declined to take part in the interview.