Criminal Records Bureau: Internet

Mr. Ruffley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on the website, www.crb.gov.uk, in each month since its inception; what the budget for the website is for 2008-09; how many staff are employed to maintain the website; and how many unique visitors there were to the website in each month since its inception.

Meg Hillier
The amount spent on the website, www.crb.gov.uk, in each year since its inception is detailed in the following table. The average monthly cost for each year is also shown. However, the exact monthly costs could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

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|Period                             |Number of visitors|
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|7 December 2005 to 31 December 2005|28,977            |
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|                                   |                  |
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|2006                               |                  |
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|January                            |85,952            |
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|February                           |83,171            |
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|March                              |93, 149           |
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|April                              |74, 821           |
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|May                                |84,290            |
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|June                               |76,141            |
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|July                               |73,880            |
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|August                             |73, 862           |
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|September                          |81,030            |
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|October                            |86,218            |
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|November                           |91,677            |
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|December                           |64,887            |
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|                                   |                  |
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|2007                               |                  |
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|January                            |108,167           |
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|February                           |97,373            |
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|March                              |107,197           |
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|April                              |93,207            |
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|May                                |104,881           |
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|June                               |104,615           |
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|July                               |106,811           |
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|August                             |107,448           |
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|September                          |110,372           |
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|October                            |122,933           |
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|November                           |121,174           |
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|December                           |91,572            |
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|                                   |                  |
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|2008                               |                  |
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|January                            |142,256           |
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|February                           |128,869           |
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|March                              |129,915           |
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|April                              |144,092           |
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The budget for the website for 2008-09 is £44,500 which includes the cost of an upgrade in the web support software and a redesign of the website.

The CRB employs one person whose role is to maintain and update the website. However, this is only one aspect of their role and not the only task the person carries out.

The numbers of visitors to the website in each month since December 2005 are detailed in the following table. These figures date back to the point at which the CRB acquired the package that allows them to glean such statistical data.

The CRB cannot confirm the number of unique visitors as some individuals may have visited the website on several occasions.

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|£      |
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|       |Annual cost|Average cost per month|
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|2002-03|12,079|1,007|
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|2003-04|34,863|2,905|
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|2004-05|18,990|1,583|
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|2005-06|122,000|10,167|
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|2006-07|47,262|3,938|
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|2007-08|36,992|3,083|
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