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HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum Seekers

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have made applications since the coming into force of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; on how many of these applications an initial decision has been made; what the average time was for such asylum seekers from application to decision in cases where they have dependent children; and how many such cases (a) have been determined and (b) remain to be determined. [140465]

Mrs. Roche: 37,095 asylum seekers made applications between 1 April 2000, when major provisions of the 1999 Act came into force, and 30 September 2000. Information on the number of those applications on which an initial decision has been taken is not available.

The information available shows that over the same period, 2,890 family applications had been made and, of

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those applications, 2,255 have received an initial decision while the remainder, 635, have not.

Most new substantive family applications lodged between 1 April 2000 and 30 September 2000, had an initial decision within two months.

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for those asylum seekers in respect of whose applications an initial decision has been made during (a) 1999 and (b) 2000, what the average time was between the application and the decision. [140417]

Mrs. Roche: Average decision times for initial decisions were calculated until the end of 1999. During 1999 the average time taken to reach an initial decision was 35 months. By December 1999 the average time taken to reach an initial decision had fallen to 13 months.

The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) is setting in place new systems, which will enable average decision times to be calculated and to report the percentage of applications receiving an initial decision within two months.

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Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers who made an application before the end of 1995 have not yet had an initial decision on their application. [141416]

Mrs. Roche: The monitoring systems we have in place record no more applications made before 1996 where there has been no initial decision.

Police Recruitment (Greater Manchester)

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the Chief Constable of the Greater Manchester Police Constabulary regarding the current level of recruitment to the force; how many recruits have been taken on by the Greater Manchester force since 31 March; and if he will make a statement. [140662]

Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 28 November 2000]: My officials have received a request from Greater Manchester Police to defer part of the force's allocation of Crime Fighting Fund Officers for 2000-01 into 2001-02. This request is presently under consideration.

Police personnel statistics, including figures for recruitment, for the six months to 30 September 2000 are presently being validated and we expect to publish them in December.

National Asylum Support Service

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the local authority regional consortia and other accommodation providers with which the National Asylum Support Service has entered into contracts to date. [140237]

Mrs. Roche: Contracts have now been signed with five consortia: Glasgow City Council on behalf of the Scottish Consortium, North East England, Yorkshire and Humberside, West Midlands and North West (East Region). Other contracts have been signed with: YMCA Glasgow, Safe Haven Yorkshire, Roselodge Ltd., Leena Corporation, Landmark Liverpool Ltd., Clearsprings Management Ltd., Capital Accommodation Ltd., Angel Group, Adelphi Hotels Ltd. and Accommodata Ltd., (Shallan).

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many units of accommodation supplied by National Asylum Support Service accommodation providers have been contracted from (a) local authority regional consortia and (b) private landlords; and what proportion of the units provided in 2000-01 will be contracted through regional consortia. [140238]

Mrs. Roche: As at 24 November, the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) had procured 15,306 bedspaces from private landlords and 8,673 from local authority regional consortia. The NASS has to retain a stock of available property. The exact number of units changes day by day as providers notify the NASS of properties. Equally, the number of asylum seekers provided with accommodation by the NASS changes daily.

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the total number of units of accommodation required by the National Asylum Support Service for (a) 2000-01 and (b) 2001-02. [140239]

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Mrs. Roche: The total number of bedspaces required by the National Asylum Support Service for 2000-01 is 44,000. The latest estimate for 2001-02 is 55,000 bedspaces.

Marches

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors are taken into account in granting permission for marches to pass the Houses of Parliament while the Commons and Lords are sitting; and if he will make a statement. [140790]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Enforcement of the Sessional Order enacted by Parliament is a matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. This order instructs the Commissioner to keep all streets leading to the Houses of Parliament free from obstruction, and to ensure that Lords and Members are not obstructed in their passage to and from the Houses. Police officers are expected to clear any assemblies or processions which are likely to cause obstruction or disorder.

In deciding to allow a march or procession to pass the Houses of Parliament, the Commissioner must first consider the Sessional Order. Any proposed march that appeared likely to cause obstruction or disorder during a Parliamentary sitting would not be allowed.

Internet

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many National Hi-Tech Crime Unit staff will (a) be dedicated to the policing of internet chatrooms, (b) have the priority of protection of children on the internet and (c) have specific training in dealing with child protection law; and what the framework for liaison between the internet crime squad child protection team and other police units will be. [140792]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The deployment of staff in the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit and the allocation to them of specific tasks and priorities will be an operational matter for the Head of the Unit to determine. Members of the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit who are engaged in the investigation of serious and organised paedophile activity or who support local police investigations of paedophile activity will be appropriately trained. The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit will provide local police units with advice and best practice guidance on the conduct of internet crime investigations through the provision of a helpdesk function, an information network and liaison events.

Gammahydroxbutyrate

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the classification of GHB. [139195]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Gammahydroxbutyrate (GHB) is not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. It is regarded as an unlicensed medicinal product under the provisions of the Medicines Act 1968. The Medicines Control Agency investigates reports of the unlawful manufacture, advertising, sale and supply of GHB in the United Kingdom and has brought a number of successful prosecutions in the last few years.

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The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has considered whether GHB should be controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act on a number of occasions, most recently on 16 November 2000. On each occasion ACMD has concluded, based on the available information about its misuse, that control of GHB under the Misuse of Drugs Act is not appropriate. But the Council has asked for further information to be gathered with a view to reviewing this decision at its next meeting on 31 May 2001.

Separately, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction has completed a risk assessment on GHB. The European Commission presented its draft recommendations on this risk assessment to the European Union Horizontal Drugs Group (HDG) of officials on 22 November. HDG will consider the matter further at its next meeting on 19 December.

In addition, the World Health Organisation has recommended that GHB should be scheduled under Schedule IV of the United Nations (UN) Convention of Psychotropic Substances 1971. This recommendation will be considered at the meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in March 2001.

Drugs Strategy

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the use of the criminal law in furtherance of the Government's anti-drugs strategy. [139395]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The criminal law underpins much of the Government's drugs strategy, "Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain", particularly the key aims of protecting communities from drug-related anti-social and criminal behaviour and stifling the availability of illegal drugs on our streets.

Enforcement of the law is a matter for the enforcement agencies, the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts.

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