HC Deb 27 February 1990 vol 168 cc152-4W
Sir John Wheeler

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests for individuals' criminal records are received by the criminal records office daily.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the national identification bureau, which is responsible for the maintenance of the national collection of criminal records, receives an average of 6,840 requests for individuals' criminal records each working day.

Sir John Wheeler

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed in the criminal records office; what are the numbers in each grade; and how many vacancies currently exist at each grade.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that on 31 January 1990 the complement, staff in post and vacancy figures for the national identification bureau, which is responsible for the maintenance of the national collection of criminal records, were:

The staff complement of the bureau is under review, following a joint Metropolitan police/Home Office staff inspection carried out in 1989.

Sir John Wheeler

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the principal users of the criminal records office.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The following are the principal organisations entitled to direct access to the information held in the national collection of criminal records maintained by the national identification bureau:

  • United Kingdom Police Forces;
  • Foreign Police Forces through Interpol;
  • Government Departments and Agencies;
  • Members of the public exercising their rights of subject access under the Data Protection Act 1984.

Sir John Wheeler

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information technology is in use at the criminal records office; if there are any proposals to expand it; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the national identification bureau, which is responsible for the maintenance of the national criminal record collection, uses the following information technology systems:

  • Microfiched Library Records;
  • An Image Retrieval System for fingerprints;
  • The Police National Computer, in particular the Index of Criminal Names and Convictions file;
  • Fax/Message Switching/Integrated telephone communications systems.

Proposals are under consideration to extend the use of information technology within the bureau to include:

  • A fully computerised national criminal record system linked directly to police forces, the crown prosecution service and other parts of the criminal justice system;
  • Computerisation of the property and method indices;
  • Office automation;
  • Automatic fingerprint recognition.

Sir John Wheeler

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average delay between a request for a full criminal record being received by the criminal records office and its receipt by the body which made the request.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the average time taken for the national identification bureau to reply to requests for information, from receipt of the request to dispatch from the bureau, varies according to the type of request received. The most common requests and response times are as follows:

  • Confirmation of identity of arrestees—6 working days;
  • Copy of microfiche record-2 working days;
  • Telephone request for urgent responses—30 minutes;
  • Government searches—no trace—2 working days;
  • Government searches—trace—5 working days;
  • Bulk list searches—3 working days.

Sir John Wheeler

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces are principally dependent upon the national criminal records office; and which make use of regional or force records offices.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

All police forces in the United Kingdom make use of the national collection of criminal records held by the national identification bureau (NIB). The following forces have no additional criminal record facilities available to them:

  • Bedford
  • City of London
  • Cumbria
  • Dorset
  • Durham
  • Dyfed Powys
  • Gloucestershire
  • Gwent
  • Hertfordshire
  • Kent
  • North Wales
  • North Yorkshire
  • Surrey
  • Warwickshire
  • Wiltshire

Scottish forces have access also to the Scottish criminal record office. Other forces in England and Wales hold their own collections of criminal records which may, in part, duplicate the information held by the NIB.