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Passports
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many days on average it takes to (a) process a new passport application by post and (b) renew a passport by post. [153297]
Mrs. Roche: The average turnaround time for straightforward and correctly completed passport applications is currently five days. This applies to both new and renewal applications.
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Civil Servants (Salary Increases)
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average percentage increase in salaries of non-industrial civil servants, excluding members of the Senior Civil Service, was in his Department for 2000-01. [152794]
Mr. Straw: In the non-agency Home Office the headline pay settlement was 2.5 per cent. on the pay bill. Together with the additional funds from staff turnover, staff in post received performance-related increases averaging 4.75 per cent.
Proscribed Organisations
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the organisations (a) he and (b) his officials have met concerning the Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2001 since its publication. [153695]
Mr. Straw: On 28 February, when I announced that I had laid the draft order in Parliament, I met representatives of the Muslim and Palestinian communities to discuss its contents. On that day the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, South (Mr. Clarke), also met representatives of the Sikh, Tamil and Kurdish communities for the same purpose.
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the representations he received before drawing up the Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2001. [153510]
Mr. Straw: A number of representations were received, including from certain foreign Governments, groups and individuals, before the draft order was laid. I have, however, taken the decisions that I have because I am satisfied that, taking account of all the information available to me, the organisations listed in the draft order meet the criteria in the Terrorism Act of being "concerned in terrorism".
Overseas Adoption
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children were allowed into the United Kingdom from overseas countries for adoption by United Kingdom residents in the last 12 months; and if he will list the countries from which these children came. [152815]
Mrs. Roche: Information on the number of children admitted to the United Kingdom from overseas countries for adoption is not currently available. The information that is available covers the number of adopted children given indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. This number excludes those children given limited leave to remain and who are subsequently adopted through the United Kingdom courts, becoming British citizens on the date that the final adoption order is made.
In 2000, a total of around 60 adopted children were given indefinite leave to remain. The nationalities of the children were:
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China
Cameroon
Ghana
Guatemala
Hong Kong
India
- Iran
Jamaica
Lebanon
Libya
St. Lucia
Nigeria
Pakistan
Romania
Singapore
Sierra Leone
South Africa
Trinidad and Tobago
Ukraine
United States of America
Vietnam
Zambia
Zimbabwe.
Asylum Seekers
Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on holding asylum seekers in Prison Service establishments. [152875]
Mrs. Roche: The Government are committed to a programme to increase the removal rate of immigration offenders and failed asylum applicants. Regrettably, it is necessary to detain some people in order to facilitate their removal at the end of the process. To this end, we are increasing the number of dedicated detention centre spaces. However, these new facilities will not become available until later in the year. In the interim, as a short-term measure, it was agreed that surplus Prison Service remand facilities could be utilised in accommodating immigration detainees. Under these arrangements, which are not exclusive to asylum seekers, only men aged 21 or over will be so accommodated.
These measures supplement existing arrangements already in place with the Prison Service in the provision of dedicated facilities at Her Majesty's Prisons Rochester, Lindholme and Haslar.
Early Release Scheme
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many prisoners who have been released under the Government's early release scheme reside in Lancashire; [153213]
- (2) how many prisoners who reside in Wales were released under the early release scheme; and how many of them have re-offended. [153214]
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Mr. Boateng: The figures required to answer these questions are not centrally available, and would incur disproportionate costs to retrieve.
Illegal Immigrants
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will estimate the number of illegal immigrants resident in Wales in (a) 1997, (b) 1998, (c) 1999, (d) 2000 and (e) 2001. [153217]
Mrs. Roche: There is no official estimate of the number of illegal immigrants resident in Wales.
HEALTH
Food Safety (Pithing)
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on Government policy on pithing in slaughter houses. [144396]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 8 January 2001]: Our general position is strongly to support action at European Union level to combat BSE. The pithing ban was introduced by Commission Decision 2000/418 of 29 June 2000, which introduced new EU-wide rules on specified risk material (SRM). We welcomed that decision overall, as a significant step forward in protecting consumers.
The Food Standards Agency has recently completed public consultation on a proposal to introduce a ban on pithing with effect from 1 January 2001, as required by the EU decision. Concerns that such a ban would particularly affect small and medium-sized abattoirs were raised in a number of responses to the consultation. Representations were also made that more time was needed to allow abattoirs to make the necessary changes to enable them to operate safely without pithing. In the light of these responses, the Government are currently considering very carefully when a pithing ban should be introduced.
UK Produce
Mr. Burnett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the progress he has made to enable produce reared and processed only within the UK prominently to be advertised as such. [149690R]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 9 February 2001]: There is no reason why produce that has been reared and processed only within the United Kingdom should not be prominently advertised as such, although such claims made in respect of fresh or frozen beef and veal are subject to the current European Community rules on beef labelling.
Doncaster Health Authority
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the value was of (a) the Government's financial support for Doncaster Health Authority and (b) additional investment in equipment, NHS modernisation, the health action zone, reform of primary care and winter planning in each year since 1996-97. [149066]
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Mr. Denham: The information requested is in the table, which details the central allocations made to Doncaster health authority for each of the financial years from 1996-97 to 2000-01 (to 31 December 2000) and also the capital allocations to the two Doncaster NHS
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Trusts for utilisation on buildings and equipment. As part of the central allocations, money was included for Primary Care Reform, Health Action Zones, Winter Planning and NHS Modernisation. These are shown separately in the second table.
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| £000 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01a |
| Total final health authority allocation (recurrent and non-recurrent)(8) | 156,755 | 163,072 | b200,531 | 238,835 | 255,332 |
| of which: | |||||
| Primary Care reform(9) | 0 | 53 | 836 | 285 | 558 |
| HAZc, 3> | 0 | 0 | 820 | 4,101 | 4,013 |
| Other NHS Modernisation(11) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,800 | 1,314 |
| Winter Planning(12) | 0 | 908 | 1,351 | 0 | 361 |
| Additional capital investment (general capital allocations)(13) | 6,189 | 4,139 | 4,481 | 4,277 | 4,879 |
| Additional capital investment (capital Modernisation Fund)(14) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 281 | 564 |
a To December 2000
b From 1998-99, allocations were based on unified allocations. Prior to this, non-cash limited prescribing and cash-limited General Medical Services were excluded.
c Includes funding for all South Yorkshire coalfields health action zones, covering Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherman except for the following amounts which were directly allocated to Rotherham and Barnsley health authorities.
Sources:
(8) Total allocations derived from "Outturn--Reconciliation of Resources"
(9) Included within the total allocation are amounts for Primary Care Reform
(10) Included within the total allocation are amounts for Health Action Zones
(11) Included within the total allocation are amounts for Other NHS Modernisation
(12) Included within the total allocation are amounts for Winter Planning
(13) Equipment allocations (general) for EFL statements for both Doncaster NHS Trusts
(14) Equipment allocations (capital Modernisation Fund) from EFL statements for both Doncaster NHS Trusts
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| 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | |
|---|---|---|
| HAZ Deprivation | 1,064 | 2,126 |
| Smoking Cessation | 349 | 349 |
| Innovation Fund | 25 | 0 |
| 1,438 | 2,475 |
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