| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Asylum Applicants (Support)
Mr. Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements he will make for the payment of £50 per person for all asylum applicants who remain in the new support system for more than six months. [100433]
Mr. Straw:
I announced during the passage of the Immigration and Asylum Bill that where asylum seekers remained on the main support system in part VI of the
25 Nov 1999 : Column: 179W
Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (which is due to come into effect on 1 April) for more than six months through no fault of their own, they would be eligible for an additional payment of £50 per person in order to obtain replacement items such as clothes, shoes and other essentials. This payment will not be available to those who are on the statutory interim arrangements (in schedule 9 to the Act), nor will it apply to those who are in receipt of social security benefits. The six-month period will not begin until an asylum seeker has been accepted for support under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
Asylum seekers will need to apply for the additional provision setting out the length of time that they have been in the support system and indicating the items which they need to replace. This information will act as a prompt to the payment of the additional provision, but also as a survey to enable us to review the amount to be paid and the purposes for which it is to be used. Once an application has been received, due consideration will be given provided there is no evidence that the asylum applicant has failed to comply with the asylum support procedures or has actively sought to frustrate or delay progress on the asylum application.
Mr. Austin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to letters to the Asylum Directorate from Powell and Co., dated 17 May, 17 June, 8 July, 17 September and 19 October, concerning a constituent (Home Office reference D282723) of the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead; and if he will make a statement. [99771]
Mrs. Roche:
Following receipt of Powell and Co. solicitor's letter of 17 May, the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) replied in June. There is no trace of any further letters. IND have telephoned the solicitors in order to resolve the matter.
Mr. Kaufman:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letters to him dated 4 August, 10 September and 14 October from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Cleveland Savory. [99768]
Mrs. Roche:
I am very sorry my right hon. Friend has not received a reply to his letters. I will be writing to him shortly.
Mr. Kaufman:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letters to him dated 15 July and 16 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Y. Belarbi. [99769]
Mrs. Roche:
My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary wrote to my right hon. Friend on 23 November.
Mr. Kaufman:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to reply to the letters to him dated 12 August, 16 September and 14 October from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms L. M. Mtato. [99767]
Mrs. Roche:
I wrote to my right hon. Friend today. I am sorry for the delay in replying.
25 Nov 1999 : Column: 180W
Mr. Austin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the (a) target response time and (b) average response time for written inquiries to the Asylum Directorate. [99770]
Mrs. Roche:
The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) answer general written inquiries on a wide range of issues. The statistics available do not distinguish asylum-related inquiries from others. The IND does not keep statistics on the average response time for this correspondence.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the European Council to consider the Commission's proposals to transfer to the Commission competence for the implementing provisions of the Eurodac Regulation. [98732]
Mrs. Roche:
It is understood that these proposals are to be considered at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 2 and 3 December 1999.
Mr. Crausby:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will conduct a national review of the care of vulnerable young prison inmates in young offenders centres. [98673]
Mr. Boateng:
A review was carried out of all forms of secure accommodation for young offenders and young people held on remand as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR). As a result, a programme of reform of the current arrangements was announced by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary in a reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston (Ms Hughes), now the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, on 29 July 1998, Official Report, columns 255-56W. This included the provision of £51 million to improve accommodation and regimes for under-18-year-olds in prison custody. These resources will provide for a new distinct estate for 15 to 17-year-old boys and enhanced regime standards to operate within it. This will support the delivery, from April 2000, of the new custodial sentence for under-18-year-olds under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, the Detention and Training Order. The new regime standards emphasise the importance of safeguarding the welfare of the young person, recognising the needs and vulnerability of this age group.
In addition, three units are being created within Young Offender Institutions for young people sentenced under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 to meet their special needs where relevant.
The review also resulted in a new central co-ordinating role for the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales. From April 2000, the Board will be responsible for the commissioning and purchasing of places in all forms of juvenile secure accommodation.
25 Nov 1999 : Column: 181W
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what national initiatives have been introduced to reduce drug-related crime in each year since 1992. [98595]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
National initiatives to reduce drug-related crime introduced since 1997 include the piloting of the new Drug Treatment and Testing Order, for which around £60 million has been earmarked for national roll-out next year, an additional £76 million over the next three years for tackling drug misuse in prisons and up to £20 million over the next three years to promote the development of arrest referral schemes to get drug misusing offenders into treatment.
No information is available on initiatives prior to that date.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the initiatives taken between 1992 and 1997 on Merseyside to reduce drug-related crime. [98592]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
A record of the initiatives that have been taken on Merseyside between 1992 and 1997 to reduce drug-related crime is not held centrally.
Mr. Hilary Benn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) in what percentage of cases where a defendant has opted for trial by jury the defendant has subsequently pleaded guilty before the case was heard for each year since 1980; [99403]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Statistics on pleas in the Crown Court are collected centrally, but they do not record whether the defendant elected for trial or was directed by magistrates. However, there is some information available from the baseline data collected by the Home Office in 1998 for the evaluation of the pilot schemes to reduce delay in the criminal justice system. In a sample of nearly 1,000 cases in the six pilot areas, about 60 per cent. of those who elected for the Crown Court pleaded guilty before the trial started.
Separate Home Office research conducted in 1989-90 suggested that nearly 90 per cent. of those who elected for jury trial and were convicted had previous convictions.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he proposes to take any action over the parading this year by extreme right-wing groups at the Cenotaph, and over the possibility of such parades in the future. [99276]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
It is the role of the Metropolitan police to control demonstrations and marches to preserve the peace, uphold the law and to prevent the commission of offences. Police tactics and decisions on how to achieve these objectives are a matter for the independent
25 Nov 1999 : Column: 182W
operational judgment of the Commissioner. There is, of course, a balance to be struck between protecting the rights of those undertaking lawful activities and the rights of demonstrators and marchers. Violent activity or inciting racial hatred are not legitimate forms of protest and the police and the courts have the power to deal with these offences under the provisions of the Public Order Act 1986. The investigation of complaints about incitement of racial hatred or other public order offences rests with the police as part of their general duties in the enforcement of criminal law
(2) for each year since 1980, in respect of defendants who have opted for trial by jury and then changed their plea to guilty before the case was heard, what percentage of such defendants had no previous criminal conviction. [99405]
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |