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Asylum Cases
Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce a requirement that the officer signing a decision on an asylum case states their grade. [70732]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: No. The letter to applicants already makes it clear that in law the decision is that of the Secretary of State. No useful purpose would be served by specifying the grade of the officer signing that letter.
Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the Civil Service grade of the staff who make decisions to deport under (i) section 3(5)(a), (ii) section 3(5)(b) and (iii) section 3(5) of the Immigration Act 1971. [70730]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Decisions to serve a notice of intention to deport are taken by trained staff at the appropriate grade, depending on the complexity of the issues raised. This will normally be either executive officer, or administrative officer for the most straightforward cases, although more complex cases may be dealt with by senior caseworkers at senior or higher executive officer grades. Where a notice is served by the Immigration Service under delegated authority, authorisation is given at Inspector level.
Airline Liaison Officers
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria he uses to assess the appropriate locations for the postings of airline liaison officers. [71060]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Airline liaison officer locations are selected primarily on the basis of the number of inadequately documented passengers departing from or passing in transit through overseas airports. In addition, due account is taken of other relevant factors: personal safety; the agreement of the host governments; and the co-operation of other bodies including airlines and airport authorities.
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Mr. Gerrard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what records are kept of action taken by other Governments as a result of assistance given by airline liaison officers. [71061]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Airline liaison officers do not provide direct assistance to other governments on cases involving individual passengers who are not adequately documented for travel to the United Kingdom. They do provide information to the appropriate authorities on the activities of facilitators and racketeers involved in human smuggling and records are kept of the outcome when it is known.
Mr. Gerrard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to which locations further airline liaison officers have been posted since 27 July 1998; and to what additional locations he plans to post further officers during 1999. [71063]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Since 27 July 1998, airline liaison officers have been posted to Bahrain, Bangkok, Dubai, Istanbul and Pretoria. An officer will be posted to Moscow towards the end of April. By the end of 1999 we plan to have posted up to nine more officers. Final decisions on the exact locations of these additional posts have yet to be made.
Mr. Gerrard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimates he has made of the number of prospective passengers who have not travelled to the United Kingdom in the past 12 months as a result of the work of airline liaison officers. [71062]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
In 1998, airlines operating from the five locations where airline liaison officers were based refused carriage to 2,095 prospective passengers who were not adequately documented for travel to the United Kingdom.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those police authorities that have disbanded their mounted divisions since 1990. [70886]
Mr. Boateng:
This information is not collected centrally.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the bloodhound in helping to track down suspects and detect criminal activity. [70885]
Mr. Boateng:
In April 1998, the Policing and Reducing Crime Unit at the Home Office supported an application under the Police Research Award Scheme from Essex Police to purchase and train two Bloodhound and two German Shepherd puppies. The proposal was to train the puppies in an alternative tracking method known as scent discrimination. This method depends on the dog tracking the individual scent of the person rather than the scent of the ground disturbance they have left.
The results of the study are being analysed at the moment and a full report will go to all Police Forces as soon as the analysis is complete, which is expected within three months.
15 Feb 1999 : Column: 514
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what representations he has received over the future use of motor-cycles by the Essex Police Force; and if he will make a statement; [71038]
(3) what representations he has received over the future of the mounted section of the Essex Police Force; [71039]
(4) if he will make additional grants to the Essex Police Force to prevent cuts in services; and if he will make a statement. [71040]
Mr. Boateng:
Funding of Essex Police in 1999-2000 will increase by £4.6 million (2.9 per cent.) to £163 million. This increase is above the national average. The allocation of resources within the Essex Police is a matter for the Chief Constable and the police authority, as are the use of motorcycles and the mounted section.
I received one representation from the Essex Police Authority about the proposed funding settlement for 1999-2000, which included reference to the consequences of the settlement for the mounted section and the future use of motorcycles by the Essex Police. I understand from the Chief Constable that his proposal to disband the mounted section is based upon their limited operational contribution to the modern day to day policing of Essex. Similarly, the continued use of motorcycles is under consideration as part of the force's drive for improved efficiency.
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were serving in the Essex Police Force on 31 December (a) 1992, (b) 1997 and (c) 1998; and what is the projected figure for 1999 excluding officers in that part of the Metropolitan Police area to be transferred to Essex. [71037]
Mr. Boateng:
Information on police numbers is collected at the end of March and September. The figures for the period requested are set out in the table.
(2) if he will make a special grant to the Essex Police Force to enable the mounted section to be retained; [71041]
| Total officer strength | |
|---|---|
| 30 September 1992 | 2,929 |
| 30 September 1997 | 2,944 |
| 30 September 1998 | 2,903 |
Ministers have no direct control over police numbers. Under legislation passed by the previous Government in 1994, it is for the individual chief constables to determine the number of police officers in their force, on the basis of the resources made available to them. It is not, therefore, possible to provide a projection of the force's strength for 1999.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Chaytor:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the total number of staff (a) in his Department and (b) in each of the agencies for
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which he is responsible and their location in (i) London, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) each of the English regions. [70477]
Mr. Straw:
I refer my hon. Friend to "Civil Service Statistics 1998", a copy of which is in the Library.
Mr. Chaytor:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to relocate staff in (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which he is responsible to the regions of the United Kingdom with the highest levels of unemployment; and what plans he has further to decentralise the location of his Department and its agencies. [70463]
Mr. Straw:
Thirty-six posts were relocated from central London to Merseyside over the period January to August 1997.
The new Criminal Records Bureau will be established in Merseyside in 2000-2001 under the management of the United Kingdom Passport Agency and will employ up to 1,200 staff.
A total of 31,574 Home Office staff (59.7 per cent.) are located outside London and the South East (including 30,244 (66.5 per cent.) Agency staff).
Mr. Chaytor:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contingency plans he has for dealing with the effects of premature re-entry of the space probe Cassini. [70455]
Mr. George Howarth:
The Home Office is the lead government department for satellite incidents. Arrangements are in place to track satellites and advise local authorities and emergency services of any possible impact in the United Kingdom so that local response arrangements can be activated.
Current advice is that the space probe Cassini is unlikely to collide with Earth and is still less likely to hit this country.
My officials will, however, continue to monitor the situation.
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