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Privatised Ports Police
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if HM Inspectorate of Constabulary will conduct an inspection into the proposals to revise the size and management of the Port of Tilbury Police and its implications for the independence of each officer in the fulfilment of his or her duties as a constable. [102437]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary of the Port of Tilbury Police--or indeed, any other non-Home Office police force--must be by the prior invitation of the force. There has been no such invitation from the force.
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when HM Inspectorate of Constabulary last inspected the Northern Ireland Airport Police. [102439]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary of the Northern Ireland Airport Police--or indeed, any other non-Home Office police force--must be by the prior invitation of the force. No inspection has taken place as there has been no such invitation from the force.
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if HM Inspectorate of Constabulary will conduct an inspection into the management of the Port of Liverpool Police in relation to the capacity of each officer in the fulfilment of his or her duties as a constable. [102438]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary of the Port of Liverpool Police--or indeed, any other non-Home Office police force--must be by the prior invitation of the force. There has been no such invitation from the Port of Liverpool Police since 1978.
Asylum Seekers
Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have applied for political asylum in the United Kingdom in each of the five most recent 12 month periods; how many of those applicants in each year have had their request rejected; and how many have been deported in consequence. [102626]
Mrs. Roche:
The requested information is given in the tables.
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| Cases considered under normal procedures | Backlog clearance exercise | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total applications | Total decisions (6)(7) | Recognised as a refugee and granted asylum | Not recognised as a refugee but granted exceptional leave | Total refusals | Granted exceptional leave under backlog criteria (8)(9) | Refused on non compliance grounds under backlog criteria (8)(9) | |
| 1995 | 43,965 | 27,005 | 1,295 | 4,410 | 21,300 | n/a | n/a |
| 1996 | 29,640 | 38,960 | 2,240 | 5,055 | 31,670 | n/a | n/a |
| 1997 | 32,500 | 36,045 | 3,985 | 3,115 | 28,945 | n/a | n/a |
| 1998 | 46,015 | 31,570 | 5,345 | 3,910 | 22,315 | n/a | n/a |
| 1999(11) | 66,945 | 30,940 | 7.135 | 2,150 | 10,970 | 9,595 | 1,095 |
(6) Decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period.
(7) Information is of initial decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
(8) Cases decided under pragmatic measures aimed at reducing the pre 1996 asylum application backlog.
(9) Includes a small number of cases where asylum has been granted.
(10) Includes a small number of cases where the applications has been refused on substantive grounds.
(11) Provisional figures for 12 months ending 31 October.
Note:
Figures rounded to the nearest 5. n/a = not applicable.
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| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 3,180 |
| 1996 | 4,840 |
| 1997 | 7,160 |
| 1998 | 6,900 |
| 1999(14) | 7,740 |
(12) Does not include persons who may leave the United Kingdom without informing the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.
(13) Includes persons departing voluntarily after enforcement action had been initiated against them.
(14) Provisional figure for 12 months ending 31 October.
Note:
All figures are rounded to 10.
Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which organisation within his Department has the responsibility for arranging the deportation of asylum seekers whose applications are rejected; and what assessment has been made of the manner in which these responsibilities are undertaken. [102628]
Mrs. Roche: The Immigration Service is responsible for arranging for the removal from the United Kingdom of asylum seekers whose applications are refused. This includes those who are removed following deportation action. The Immigration Service is on target to meet the target of 8,000 removals in the current financial year. Targets for future years were set out in the annex to the White Paper "Fairer, Faster and Firmer--A Modern Approach to Immigration and Asylum" which was published in July 1998. These targets are currently being reviewed.
The review of immigration procedures which preceded the White Paper's proposals identified a number of changes which we considered necessary to improve the enforcement of the immigration control. The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 enables a number of these to be given effect. The performance of the Immigration Service is kept under constant review in order to encourage the adoption of best practice, ensure that priorities are dealt with and identify options for improving performance.
Sir Teddy Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what records are kept of those persons who apply for political asylum and have their cases rejected; and how many such persons remain in the United Kingdom. [102627]
Mrs. Roche:
Records are kept on all persons applying for asylum. These case files identify the initial decision, the outcome of any appeal, port or enforcement action taken subsequently and the removal of the person from the country. However, we do not have data available on how many asylum applicants have voluntarily left the country without the knowledge of the Home Office. Therefore, it is not possible to make a reliable estimate of the number of failed asylum seekers remaining in the country.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the research projects being undertaken as part of the Government's anti-drugs strategy announced following the Comprehensive Spending Review. [102661]
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Mr. Charles Clarke:
The programme of research, for which £6 million has been allocated over three years, is designed to improve research and information gathering in support of the Government's 10 year strategy for tracking drug misuse. At present, the programme includes the following projects:
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the drug-free units in prisons in England and Wales; and how many inmates are held in each of these units. [102403]
Mr. Boateng:
The table shows the prisons with a designated voluntary testing unit or discrete area in prisons in England and Wales, and the number of places within each unit.
NEW-ADAM (New England and Wales Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring)--Voluntary drug testing and interviewing of arrestees in 16 custody suites across England and Wales (in progress);
Drug use questionnaire survey of school pupils in England (in progress);
Strategic review of regional drug misuse databases for treatment in England and Wales (in progress);
Survey of drug availability based on the perceptions of local experts (in progress);
Estimating the current capacity and future demands for drug treatment (complete); and
A supply-side programme of research to develop a model of the United Kingdom drugs market (in progress).
(15) Number of prisoners held not available
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