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Removal Orders

Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people (a) have been removed to Nigeria (i) before and (ii) after 10 November and (b) are currently the subject of removal orders. [1622]

Mr. Kirkhope: The information requested is not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the available information shows that in the 12 months prior to 10 November 1995,

23 Nov 1995 : Column: 286

339 Nigerian nationals were either removed from the United Kingdom as illegal entrants or deported and that one has been removed since that date.

Stop-and-search Powers

Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the number of people of African descent who are stopped, questioned and searched coming through British ports relative to the average number of people so detained. [1232]

Mr. Kirkhope: The information requested is not available.

Asylum Seekers

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his Department's current practice in respect of immigration officials passing on details of the claims of persons seeking asylum to the embassies of countries from which asylum seekers have travelled; and if he will make a statement. [1526]

Mr. Kirkhope: All applications for asylum in the United Kingdom are treated as confidential. No information about an asylum claim is disclosed to the authorities of the applicant's country of origin. However, both the Dublin convention, which is not yet in force, and the European Union resolution on minimum guarantees for asylum procedures provide for information to be disclosed in confidence to the asylum authorities of other member states of the European Union through which the applicant has passed or which may have responsibility for considering the asylum claim.

Mr. Khabra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for asylum have been rejected on the safe third country ground. [1260]

Mr. Kirkhope: In 1994 865 asylum applications were refused on the safe third country ground and 1,205 in the first nine months of 1995. A nationality split is available in table 4.3 of the Home Office statistical bulletin, "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 1994", issue 15/95. A copy of this publication is available in the Library.

Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give details of the pilot scheme adopted by immigration officials to accelerate asylum applications from certain countries. [149]

Mr. Kirkhope: I am placing a short report on the pilot scheme in the Library.

Mr. Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which countries have undergone events likely to give rise to a well-founded fear of persecution among the nationals since 1988; and which countries are currently undergoing such events. [552]

Mr. Kirkhope: Under proposals on which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security has been consulting for restricting the benefit entitlement of asylum seekers, it is envisaged that the Benefit Agency will be notified in the event of a future fundamental change of circumstances in a country such that persons will not normally be returned to it for the time being.

23 Nov 1995 : Column: 287

Probation Services

Mr. Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of (a) probation officers and (b) probation assistants in post in each of the probation services in England and Wales in (i) 1979, (ii) 1985, (iii) 1990, (iv) 1991, (v) 1992, (vi) 1993 (vii) 1994. [2059]

Mr. Kirkhope: Information is given in the table. Figures for probation services' officers (ancillaries) are not available by individual area for 1979.

(a) Probation officers

Area	1979(16)	1985(16)	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
Avon	64	70	114	114	117	122	116
Bedfordshire	32	45	66	70	81	80	77
Berkshire	48	50	81	88	98	102	107
Buckinghamshire	24	48	82	80	93	94	94
Cambridgeshire	34	37	69	75	81	87	85
Cheshire	51	62	104	113	118	129	120
Cleveland	52	51	108	108	110	106	109
Cornwall	24	23	35	34	41	45	44
Cumbria	31	38	60	64	69	73	72
Derbyshire	43	59	117	118	121	118	119
Devon	63	62	132	134	139	143	151
Dorset	44	45	88	89	90	88	93
Durham	41	44	89	93	91	96	91
Essex	64	89	143	147	148	154	156
Gloucestershire	32	30	63	64	64	64	69
Hampshire	110	117	191	200	215	207	205
Hereford and Worcester	46	61	94	96	106	110	112
Hertfordshire	58	63	102	104	103	104	105
Humberside	57	78	134	139	141	145	141
Kent	86	101	163	171	189	179	181
Lancashire	101	122	201	201	207	216	217
Leicestershire	57	56	123	124	126	131	142
Lincolnshire	31	37	73	72	78	79	85
Greater Manchester	222	254	426	446	469	486	502
Merseyside	175	188	298	306	331	327	320
Norfolk	32	37	83	83	84	82	91
Northamptonshire	37	48	64	71	70	74	76
Northumbria	119	137	238	238	249	250	262
Nottinghamshire	116	114	180	177	187	190	183
Oxfordshire	35	39	67	66	74	72	77
Shropshire	27	32	51	51	50	52	52
Somerset	24	30	63	68	66	73	76
Staffordshire	90	101	169	170	176	177	172
Suffolk	32	34	84	85	89	89	94
Surrey	44	46	87	90	103	99	101
East Sussex	36	36	68	73	73	77	77
West Sussex	24	34	53	57	62	65	66
Warwickshire	32	37	62	61	65	66	66
West Midlands	261	289	444	459	459	465	482
Wiltshire	27	35	61	63	65	70	71
North Yorkshire	30	36	54	58	57	60	61
South Yorkshire	112	118	205	222	229	239	238
West Yorkshire	199	193	321	319	356	394	389
Dyfed	15	23	31	34	35	40	37
Gwent	30	33	51	54	51	54	58
North Wales	33	44	68	70	70	68	70
Powys	6	8	11	12	12	12	12
South Glamorgan	40	40	73	78	77	76	76
Mid Glamorgan	44	49	69	76	78	84	84
West Glamorgan	25	32	51	53	53	55	54
Inner London	284	327	573	620	614	639	643
North East London	68	83	123	121	141	143	152
South East London	44	53	70	76	85	89	92
South West London	31	42	66	63	71	71	79
Middlesex	151	170	238	247	266	265	275

(16) Figures for 1979 and 1985 are for maingrade probation officers on

general duties only. Figures for 1990-1994 are for all probation officer grades.

23 Nov 1995 : Column: 288

(b) Probation services' officers (ancillaries)

Area	1985	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
Avon	25	33	39	36	44	44
Bedfordshire	14	15	15	18	17	16
Berkshire	19	25	28	30	31	33
Buckinghamshire	19	20	17	18	16	16
Cambridgeshire	16	19	20	19	23	22
Cheshire	41	31	34	35	37	40
Cleveland	28	20	18	18	26	31
Cornwall	13	10	14	13	14	16
Cumbria	27	31	33	33	33	32
Derbyshire	19	26	24	23	22	21
Devon	31	35	40	39	38	32
Dorset	16	18	20	21	22	25
Durham	23	29	37	36	30	25
Essex	36	53	58	52	54	53
Gloucestershire	12	20	19	22	22	23
Hampshire	16	44	44	47	42	50
Hereford and Worcestershire	18	15	17	15	14	15
Hertfordshire	14	25	26	24	28	29
Humberside	18	27	29	29	30	34
Kent	45	40	40	43	49	46
Lancashire	45	64	66	69	68	71
Leicestershire	18	22	22	21	21	17
Lincolnshire	23	25	24	23	23	26
Greater Manchester	130	141	137	137	141	153
Merseyside	58	70	79	79	94	100
Norfolk	13	20	25	22	21	22
Northamptonshire	15	15	18	18	17	16
Northumbria	54	52	56	59	61	61
Nottinghamshire	24	28	27	28	28	31
Oxfordshire	18	16	17	17	22	21
Shropshire	8	11	10	9	9	9
Somerset	21	15	15	15	17	16
Staffordshire	29	33	33	35	39	37
Suffolk	11	17	16	17	16	17
Surrey	19	14	21	23	11	13
East Sussex	19	22	24	23	23	22
West Sussex	7	12	14	13	14	15
Warwickshire	14	12	12	15	14	15
West Midlands	71	101	102	113	108	109
Wiltshire	18	19	18	18	19	19
North Yorkshire	10	16	17	17	16	16
South Yorkshire	73	78	80	78	82	80
West Yorkshire	121	119	115	119	123	129
Dyfed	6	8	8	7	7	9
Gwent	8	22	24	19	16	15
North Wales	18	15	16	15	14	19
Powys	2	4	4	4	4	3
South Glamorgan	18	19	18	21	22	22
Mid Glamorgan	17	17	18	18	18	17
West Glamorgan	17	19	21	22	21	20
Inner London	130	116	119	116	135	122
North East London	32	30	32	36	36	36
South East London	23	25	23	24	28	28
South West London	14	13	14	14	15	20
Middlesex	65	51	54	52	57	50

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