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Data Matching
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what instructions and guidance he has given to staff to forbid them from approaching employers requiring copies of complete databases of personal data; and if he will place a copy of such guidance in the Library. [89593]
Mr. Timms: Fraud investigators have the power to request information from employers about their employees under Section 110 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and the Jobseeker's Act 1995. Guidance on how to operate these powers is contained in a number of Departmental sources. These set out the Department's procedures for deterring and investigating fraud and it would not normally be appropriate to make them public.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list (a) the total number of claimant matches undertaken by his Department's data matching programme, (b) the number of matches which resulted in no further action, (c) the number of matches which required investigation by staff, (d) the number of matches
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which, following such investigation, resulted in no further action, (e) the number of withdrawn claims and prosecutions identified by data matching, (f) the cost of the data matching programme so far, including all direct and indirect staff costs and (h) the amounts of benefits saved by the data matching programme. [89591]
Mr. Timms:
The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.
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This Department operates two data matching services: the Generalised Matching Service, which matches different DSS computer systems against each other and against data acquired from other Government Departments to identify anomalies for investigation; and the Housing Benefit Matching Service which matches data from Local Authority (LA) Housing and Council Tax benefit administration systems against data held by the DSS and other LAs to identify anomalies for the LAs to investigate.
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| Year ending | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anomalies referred for investigation | -- | 62,937 | 85,071 | 137,307 | 139,292 |
| Referrals resulting in benefit savings or identified overpayments | -- | 20,998 | 34,989 | 56,290 | 87,670 |
| Referrals requiring no further action pre investigation | -- | 25,862 | 32,482 | 45,749 | 62,719 |
| Referrals requiring no further action post investigation | -- | 1,668 | 4,039 | 9,324 | 10,565 |
| Total referrals cleared(7) | -- | 48,528 | 71,510 | 111,363 | 160,954 |
| Weekly Benefit Savings | -- | £28.8m | £51.1m | £83.7m | £154.2m |
| Funding | £2.6m | £10.7m | £11.4m | £14.1m | £16.5m |
(7) The Department's data matching programmes are rolling programmes. The referrals they produce can take a number of months to investigate and cannot all be cleared in the year that they are generated.
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(8) The 1997-98 figures include the figures for 1996-97.
(9) The Department only records details of the referrals to Local Authorities which result in benefit savings or identified overpayments.
(10) The figures given only relate to the costs of operating the Housing Benefit Matching Service. They do not include the Local Authorities' cost of investigating those referrals, which are not recorded by the DSS. This is a voluntary scheme and responsibility for recording the cost of participation would fall to the Local Authorities.
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Youth Crime
16. Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on tackling criminal activity by young people. [89226]
Mr. Boateng: Following the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, we are piloting in 10 areas the final warning scheme, a range of new community-based court disposals and Youth Offending Teams. We expect to implement these nationally next year. Under this Session's Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Bill we are proposing referrals to youth offender panels. The youth justice system is also being speeded up, and we have established the Youth Justice Board to provide advice and promote and monitor local good performance.
Air Guns
17. Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward legislation to control the use of air guns. [89227]
Mr. Boateng:
We have no immediate plans to change the law relating to air weapons but firearms legislation will be kept under close scrutiny to see if there is anything further which needs to be done to protect public safety. To this end, I have asked the Firearms Consultative Committee, the independent statutory body that advises the Government on firearms matters, to consider again the
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controls on air weapons as part of their programme of work for this year. I look forward to receiving their report later in the year and considering any recommendations they may make about airguns.
20. Mr. Efford:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Government's progress towards implementing the recommendations of the Macpherson report. [89230]
Mr. Straw:
On 23 March I published an Action Plan which sets out how the report's recommendations will be taken forward. Progress has been made on implementing the recommendations in line with the published plan. The Steering Group, which I chair, which has responsibility for overseeing implementation of the report, met for the first time on 18 May. It next meets on 27 July.
21. Mr. Grogan:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the measures taken to maintain public order for the cricket world cup. [89231]
Kate Hoey:
It is a matter for the cricketing authorities and the police to assess the impact of security measures taken during the tournament. The Association of Chief Police Officers are presently compiling a report to see what lessons can be learned from the policing
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arrangements during the tournament. The tournament attracted almost 498,000 spectators and ACPO advise that there were 52 arrests and 323 ejections by stewards from grounds. These figures show that the vast majority of people attended matches for all the right reasons and were able to watch the cricket in a safe and secure environment.
22. Mr. Corbett:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the number of Kosovan refugees settled into temporary accommodation in Birmingham; and how many have moved from their original locations to London and the south-east. [89232]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Four thousand, three hundred and forty-six evacuees have been airlifted to the United Kingdom under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Humanitarian Evacuation Programme (HEP) from Macedonia. Most have been housed in reception centres in the Midlands, the North of England and Scotland; no reception centres have been established in Birmingham.
The latest estimates indicate that 572 of the refugees arriving under the HEP have moved from reception centres to London and the South East. A further 115 refugees did not enter reception centres and are thought to have moved to the South East.
34. Mr. Khabra:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the settling of Kosovan refugees into temporary accommodation across the country; and how many have moved from their original locations into London and the south-east. [89245]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Four thousand, three hundred and forty-six evacuees have been airlifted to the United Kingdom under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Humanitarian Evacuation Programme (HEP) from Macedonia. Most have been housed in reception centres in the Midlands, the North of England and Scotland.
At the reception centres each refugee is given a health check and assigned a GP; children of school age are assigned to a local school; and refugees are put in touch with any known relatives and friends. Reception services for the refugees have been organised by the Local Authorities and the Refugee Council. Airport authorities, the immigration service and local medical services have also been heavily involved.
The refugees are free to move within the United Kingdom as they choose and it is inevitable that some refugees will go to areas where they have family or where other Kosovans have already settled, including London and the South East. The latest estimates indicate that 572 of the refugees arriving under the HEP have moved from reception centres to London and the South East. A further 115 refugees did not enter reception centres and are thought to have moved to the South East. 179 refugees have moved out of reception centres to other areas.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 2 July 1999, Official Report, column 310, how many of the refugees who arrived
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under the Humanitarian Evacuation Programme and are not currently resident in reception centres are currently residing at addresses notified to his Department. [90635]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
There is no requirement for refugees arriving under the Humanitarian Evacuation Programme to inform the Home Office of their address, and none have done so.
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Kosovar refugees have been evacuated to the UK since 1 June; and on what dates they arrived in the UK. [90638]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The numbers of arrivals of refugees from Kosovo since 1 June are given in the table:
| Date | Airport of arrival | Number of refugees (Immigration Service statistics) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 June 1999 | Manchester | 82 |
| 2 June 1999 | Manchester | 142 |
| 3 June 1999 | Manchester | 138 |
| 4 June 1999 | Manchester | 160 |
| 5 June 1999 | Manchester | 163 |
| 7 June 1999 | Leeds/Bradford | 171 |
| 8 June 1999 | Leeds/Bradford | 167 |
| 9 June 1999 | Leeds/Bradford | 165 |
| 10 June 1999 | Leeds/Bradford | 164 |
| 11 June 1999 | Leeds/Bradford | 149 |
| 12 June 1999 | Leeds/Bradford | 158 |
| 14 June 1999 | Leeds/Bradford | 157 |
| 15 June 1999 | Leeds/Bradford | 143 |
| 18 June 1999 | Leeds/Bradford | 135 |
| 23 June 1999 | Leeds/Bradford(11) | (12)36 |
| 25 June 1999 | Leeds/Bradford | 102 |
| 2 July 1999 | Glasgow(11) | (12)34 |
| Total | 2,266 |
(11) Medical flight
(12) Nine medical patients
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 2 July 1999, Official Report, column 310, how many of the evacuees received from Kosovo into the UK have applied for asylum in the UK. [90637]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: I regret that the information requested is not available as it could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the first of the refugees who arrived in the UK under the UNHCR Humanitarian Evacuation Programme will return to Kosovo. [90636]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: It is our aim that refugees should return home as soon as possible and we are planning to start return flights from 19 July.
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