| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Kosovo
Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many United Kingdom police officers he is intending to send to Kosovo. [93034]
Mr. Boateng: We currently have a British Forensic Team of 16 persons already in Kosovo assisting in the investigation of war crimes. Seven British officers have transferred from the International Police Task Force in Bosnia to Kosovo. We are currently training a party of 12 officers to go and assist with the recruitment and training of a Kosovan police force and a further 27 officers are on standby to act as trainers.
Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contingency plans he has to assist police forces whose police officers are being deployed in Kosovo. [93035]
Mr. Boateng: Officers going to Kosovo have been selected from various forces around the country with the agreement of the relevant chief constables to ensure that no one force has the burden of supplying a large contingent of officers. The full costs of seconding officers are currently being met by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
EU Fire Safety Provisions
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library the letter issued in 1998 by Commissioner Flynn under Article 169 of the Treaty of Rome concerning the United Kingdom's implementation of the general fire safety provisions of the European Framework Directive together with his response to that letter. [92891]
Mr. George Howarth:
Correspondence between the European Commission and member states, including the United Kingdom, on Article 226 (formerly 169) cases is regarded by both parties as confidential between them. The broad content of Commissioner Flynn's letter was set out in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, East (Mr. Heppell) on 8 April 1998, Official Report, column 255. The Fire Precautions (Workplace) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 reflect the Government's response to the letter in that they amend the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 to the
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 270
necessary extent to address the Commission's concerns about our implementation of the general fire safety provisions of the directive.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many telephone calls were made to the Passport Agency by members of the public; and how many of those calls received a courtesy message at (a) each office of the United Kingdom Passport Agency and (b) in total, in the weeks ended (i) 4 July and (ii) 11 July. [92774]
Mr. Mike O'Brien
[holding answer 23 July 1999]: The information requested is given in the form of calls received on the United Kingdom Passport Agency's (UKPA) published telephone number (0870 5210410); and calls received by the new emergency call centre (0845 6004646), for customers who have already submitted an application and are travelling within one week.
A breakdown of the telephone calls received on the 0870 5210410 number is as follows:
The total number of telephone calls received on the 0845 6004646 emergency number, which became operational on Friday, 2 July 1999, was:
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The information requested in the form of the average maximum processing time in working days for non-urgent applications is shown in the table:
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 269
week ending Friday, 2 July 1999--total of 225,297 calls received of which 135,877 received an explanatory message; and
week ending Friday, 9 July 1999--total of 106,949 calls received of which 54,474 received an explanatory message.
The UKPAs management information is recorded weekly from Saturday to the following Friday. These figures are collated centrally and cannot be broken down to an estimate for each office in any accurate way.
week ending Sunday, 4 July 1999-66,189; and
week ending Sunday, 11 July 1999-69,709.
Mr. Beith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average time for processing straightforward applications by the UK Passport Agency (a) per office and (b) in total, (i) on the last available date and (ii) in each of the last six months; and if he will make a statement. [92965]
| 1999 | Belfast | London | Newport | Liverpool | Peterborough | Glasgow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8 | 2 | 12 | 16 | 5 | 11 |
| February | 14 | 4 | 20 | 20 | 11 | 10 |
| March | 16 | 6 | 28 | 25 | 12 | 16 |
| April | 21 | 6 | 36 | 33 | 15 | 18 |
| May | 31 | 5 | 33 | 46 | 27 | 26 |
| June | 36 | 6 | 39 | 38 | 35 | 36 |
| July(24) | 19 | 6 | 39 | 43 | 35 | 47 |
(24) Up to week ending 18 July 1999
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 269
These figures need to be treated with caution because processing is often done in declared travel date order rather than the date received. The processing times reflect the Agency's priority to meet passport applicants' declared travel dates. July travel dates, apart from applications being made now, have been
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 270
cleared, and the Agency is making considerable progress with August travellers. Applications in process represent less than three weeks work at current output levels, and with intake declining, processing times for non-urgent work should begin to fall over the next few weeks.
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 271
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the dates when the Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum is due to meet during 1999; and if he will make a statement on the programme of work of that committee. [92784]
Mr. Mike O'Brien
[holding answer 23 July 1999]: Meetings of the Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA) were held on 15 June, under the German Presidency, and on 26 July, under the Finnish Presidency. The Presidency has not notified dates of future meetings although none is scheduled for September, the latest month for which a calendar is available. The Presidency has, however, indicated its intention to make such dates available on its Presidency website.
The programme of work of the SCIFA is to prepare dossiers, after initial consideration by the working groups, for discussion by the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council. Copies of the Finnish Presidency Work Programme in the area of JHA will be placed in the Library.
I very much welcome the Finnish Presidency's pragmatic approach to its work programme and their aim to continue discussions on issues raised under previous Presidencies. I am also pleased to note the high priority being given to combating illegal immigration and to improving the effective operation of the Dublin Convention, both issues which are of considerable concern to the Government.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people are currently detained under Immigration Act powers in (a) detention centres, (b) Prison Service establishments and (c) other accommodation; [92892]
Mr. George Howarth:
The latest available information, relating to the snapshot of all persons detained solely under Immigration Act 1971 powers, by location, as at 31 May, is given in the table. The figures exclude persons detained under dual Immigration Act 1971 and other powers, for whom comprehensive data are not recorded centrally.
(2) how many people are currently detained solely under Immigration Act powers who have been detained continuously for longer than three months. [92897]
(25) Figures exclude persons detained in police cells (other than at Dover Harbour)
(26) Figures include the use of police cells at Dover Harbour
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 272
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the past 12 months for which records are available the recommended period, in respect of persons held under Immigration Act powers, of five days in policy custody was exceeded by (a) extending, (b) renewing and (c) transferring a detainee from one station to another. [93517]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The Immigration (Places of Detention) Direction 1996 specifies that an individual may be detained in a police station for a maximum of five nights with an additional two nights only where Removal Directions have been set. However, current policy is to detain an individual in a police station for no more than two nights with the provision of an extension with the authority of an Immigration Inspector. Data on those detained in police cells for more than five nights, ie where
27 Jul 1999 : Column: 273
Removal Directions are in place, cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate costs. However, the number is believed to be very small.
Fiona Mactaggart:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total cost of immigration detention in the past 12 months; how much of this is represented by (a) designated prisons, (b) other prisons, (c) police stations, (d) Immigration Service detention facilities and (e) airport holding facilities; and what proportion of the cost is represented by ex-convicts awaiting deportation, beyond the date on which they would otherwise have been released, under section 3(5) or (6). [93515]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
The total cost of immigration detention in the last financial year is estimated to be £40,228,000, including overheads, of which £15,135,000 is for designated prisons, (a) costs for Immigration Act 1971 detainees in other prisons, (b) can only be provided at disproportionate cost; £1,360,000 is for detention in police stations, (c) £18,151,000 for Immigration Service detention facilities at Harmondsworth, Tinsley House and Campsfield House, (d) £5,582,000 for other detention facilities at ports and airports, and (e) the costs of detaining ex-convicts awaiting deportation, beyond the date on which they would normally be released cannot be obtained except at disproportionate cost.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |