Written question asked by Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 12 May 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 May 2003. It was answered by John Healey (Labour) on Monday, 19 May 2003 on behalf of the Treasury.

Treasury

Question: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how may (a) arrests and (b) convictions have been attributable to information received by the Customs Confidential hotline since its inception; and what the costs of operating the Customs Confidential hotline were in the last 12 months for which figures are available. - Inc figure.

Answer: Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) arrests and (b) convictions have been attributable to information received by the Customs Confidential hotline since its inception; and what the costs of operating the Customs Confidential hotline were in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [113360] John Healey: The Customs Confidential Hotline has only existed in its current format since May 2002. Prior to this paper records were kept and the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The costs of operating the Customs Confidential Hotline are estimated to be £12,500 a year for the free telephone hotline (0800 59 5000) and 6 staff years. In the last year information from the Customs Confidential Hotline has contributed to a number of operations across the country. However, it is not possible to provide robust data on correlation between information received by Customs and subsequent arrests and convictions.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 113360; 405 c573W;405 c571W
Session: 2002-03
Subjects: Customs and Excise Crime Arrests Convictions Email Telephone services
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk