To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints of bullying have been investigated in his Department in the last 12 months; and how many complaints have been upheld. (134826)

For Core Home Office (excluding Public Sector Prison Service, Criminal Records Bureau and Identity and Passport Service) and Border and Immigration Agency, the number of complaints investigated and upheld during the 12 month period to 27 April 2007 is set out in the following table.

Since January 2005 for staff in Core Home Office and Border and Immigration Agency people management has been devolved to a local line management level, with units either commissioning the investigation using HR staff or non HR staff who are specifically trained to carry these types of investigations. Line managers are only required to inform HR at the conclusion of the process, and therefore the figures supplied are those that have been reported to HR by line managers, and recorded centrally.

Border and Immigration Agency figures do not include any new complaints lodged after 25 April 2007.

Information for Criminal Records Bureau and Identity and Passport Service is not provided on grounds of confidentiality as there were fewer than five complaints investigated. The Public Sector Prison Service does not hold the information centrally in the format requested. This could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.