Written question asked by James Duddridge (Conservative) on Tuesday, 3 July 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 July 2007. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Tuesday, 10 July 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Databases: Vandalism

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the merits of creating a national database of incidents of graffiti dealt with by local authorities.

Answer: [holding answer 9 July 2007]: A national database of graffiti incidents currently exists and is maintained by the British Transport Police and Transport for London. The images held on the database are uploaded by authorised practitioners, such as police officers and local authority officers who can access the database free of charge. The purpose is not to act as either an intelligence or crime recording system but to facilitate communication between partnership agencies that have an interest in sharing information relating to graffiti. My Department is in discussions with the British Transport Police regarding the effectiveness of the current system.

Secondary information