Written question asked by Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Neville-Jones (Conservative) on Monday, 14 March 2011.

Police: Databases

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will investigate and report on the installation and use of databases, including proposed databases, by South Wales Police and their partner members for recording alleged and actual anti-social behaviour; if so, how; on what timescale; and whether they will place all reports in the Library of the House.

Answer: The Government have no plans to specifically investigate and report on the installation and use of databases, including proposed databases, by South Wales Police and their partner members for recording alleged and actual anti-social behaviour. However, South Wales Police is taking part in the anti-social behaviour call-handling and casework management trials which were launched by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Crime Prevention on 4 January and which are supported by the Home Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC). The trials explore better ways to respond to calls and identify and protect vulnerable people. This includes installing IT systems to enhance sharing of information on cases between agencies, but not establishing new databases. An assessment of how this improves service delivery will be published in due course.

Secondary information