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Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what organisational and accommodation changes have taken place in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate since 1 April 2000; what further changes are planned for the financial year 2000-01; and if he will make a statement. [156088]
Mrs. Roche: Since April 2000, the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's (IND) staff has increased by 3,079 full-time equivalents to 9,096 at the end of March 2001. We have taken on leases for space in 15 extra office buildings to accommodate these staff, who are delivering improved service on immigration and nationality casework, asylum support and immigration control. Over the coming financial year we expect staffing to increase to about 10,000 full-time equivalents and will take on space in another 12 office buildings. There will also be a phased return to the newly refurbished Lunar House in Croydon. Changes in organisational structures are made as required to support delivery of services: most significant in the last year has been to combine the Integrated Casework Directorate, Immigration Service and National Asylum Support Service into the Operations Directorate.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what new computer systems (a) have been and (b) are planned to be installed in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in (i) the current financial year and (ii) the financial year 2001-02. [156084]
Mrs. Roche: The main focus in 2000-01 has been the continuing evolutionary development and roll-out of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's (IND) two main infrastructure systems POISE and TBC. POISE was supported by Sema until February 2001 and is now supported by Sirius, as the main Home Office Information Technology supplier. TBC is supported by Siemens Business Services.
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In addition the following four major new systems were implemented:
- IAF Project (Automated Fingerprint System)--This system allows fingerprints to be automatically matched against IND's collection of 350,000 fingerprint records.
- ACID Warehouse--This is a data warehouse developed by Siemens and used to collate case information held on a large number of existing IND systems.
- ASYS--A computer system on POISE supporting the operation of the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) Directorate.
- Interpreters Database--Information about interpreters used throughout IND is now available on both POISE and TBC.
In 2001-02 evolutionary development of the POISE and TBC systems will continue, with particular emphasise on the sharing of information across the two systems.
There will be enhancements to ASYS and wider roll-out of ACID Warehouse. Siemens will make a number of other low-risk improvements to the TBC system.
A review of the use of Information Technology within the Immigration Service is also currently taking place. Work is already in hand on a management information system for Detention Centres (DELMIS).
Attachment of Earnings Orders
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many attachment of earnings orders have been issued by each magistrates' court covering the Greater London area during the last 12 months. [156192]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Information on the number of attachment of earnings orders is not available centrally and can be collected only at disproportionate cost.
Prisoners
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men and (b) women prisoners have died in prison in England and Wales during the last 12 months. [156188]
Mr. Boateng: 128 males and nine females have died in prison custody in England and Wales during the last 12 months (up to and including 31 March 2001).
| Male | Female | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-inflicted | 69 | 7 | 76 |
| Natural causes | 57 | 2 | 59 |
| Homicide | 2 | 0 | 2 |
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Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many women were sent to prison by courts in England and Wales during the last 12 months; [156189]
(2) how many women were sentenced to imprisonment by courts in England and Wales during the last 12 months for shoplifting; [156193]
(3) how many women have been sentenced to imprisonment by courts in England and Wales during the last 12 months for trading in illegal drugs. [156191]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The available information, taken from the Home Office's Court Proceedings Database, relates to 1999 and is contained in the table. (Information for 2000 is not yet available.)
| Number | |
|---|---|
| All offences | 7,504 |
| of which: | |
| Dealing in illegal drugs | 609 |
| Shoplifting | 2,065 |
(15) Unsuspended imprisonment, detention in a young offender institution, secure training orders and detention under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the mother and baby units in women's prisons in England and Wales, indicating the number of places in each prison. [156194]
Mr. Boateng: At present there are four Mother and Baby Units (MBU) in England and Wales; namely Holloway, Styal, New Hall and Askham Grange. Holloway and New Hall take babies up to the age of nine months. Styal and Askham Grange take babies up to 18 months but babies will leave the units at an earlier age if it is in the child's best interest.
The table gives a brief description of the prisons, age limits of babies and the number of places available:
| Status | Security category | Places | Age limit (months) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Askham Grange, near York | (16)-- | Open | 20 | 18 |
| Holloway, London | (17)-- | Closed | 13 | 9 |
| New Hall, near Wakefield | (17)-- | Closed | 9 | 9 |
| Styal, Cheshire | (17)-- | Open | 22 | 18 |
(16) Sentenced
(17) Remanded and sentenced
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners use wheelchairs. [156249]
Mr. Boateng: This information is not collected centrally.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if all prisons can accommodate prisoners in wheelchairs. [156251]
Mr. Boateng: No. All new prisons are built to specifications which allow wheelchair access. Many existing prisons are able to accommodate prisoners in wheelchairs, or are capable of being so adapted. The Prison Service is ensuring that there is a sufficient
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geographical spread of prisons which conform fully to the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, including wheelchair access. But there are a small number of prisons which can never be adapted for wheelchair access.
Departmental Policies (Great Grimsby)
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on the Great Grimsby constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [156246]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Home Office is working to build a safe, just and tolerant society in which the rights and responsibilities of individuals, families and communities are properly balanced, and the protection and security of the public are maintained. Detailed information on the impact of Home Office policies across the full range of responsibilities is set out in Home Office Annual Reports. A copy of the most recent report, Home Office Annual Report 2000-01, is available in the Library. Information on recorded crime and policing is also published. "Recorded Crime England and Wales, 12 months to September 2000" and "Police Service Strength England and Wales, 30 September 2000" can be found in the Library. The recorded crime statistics include information on recorded crime by Basic Command Unit and Crime and Disorder partnerships.
The impact of Home Office policies and actions is not normally examined by constituency and the statistics which the Department collects, such as recorded crime, cannot be matched in the way requested although set out are examples relating to the Great Grimsby constituency or the immediate locality:
Reducing Burglary Initiative (RBI)
Humberside police in partnership with North East Lincolnshire council were awarded approximately £545,000 for a scheme in Grimsby. Main interventions proposed include: reduction of repeat victimisation; target hardening; property marking; cooling hotspots; disruption of main offender access routes and a co-ordinated police, probation and Young Offending Team (YOT) partnership to work on prolific young offenders. DNA analysis and crime scene matching will also be used to increase detection potential of offences and quality life improvement measures.
Great Grimsby is covered by North East Lincolnshire YOT, which also covers Cleethorpes and Immingham. The YOT is a multi-agency team working closely together with a variety of partners. One project, established with Government funding from the Reducing Burglary initiative, is known as the Burglary Understanding and Reduction Partnership. Part of this is the Targeted Offender Programme involving staff members from police, probation and the YOT. They are based at the police station and target their work on known burglars, combining and exchanging intelligence, surveillance and intensive interventions.
In 2000, a Summer Splash project was run, funded largely through concentrating Government money and focusing on the children and young people living in the highest crime areas of North East Lincolnshire. Around 500 children made use of the various activities in the
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project and the police reported a reduction in juvenile crime and anti-social behaviour in the area over that period. 2001 will see not only a repeat of this work but an expansion so that these opportunities and benefits can be enjoyed for more than just the school holiday periods. This Youth Activities Project will be mainly SRB (Social Regeneration Budget) funded and is expected to work with 1,600 children and young people during the coming year. In the year 2000-01 the rate of re-offending on bail was 10 per cent. lower than in the previous year.
More generally, all of the policies of the Home Office will impact on the residents of Great Grimsby to a greater or lesser extent. For example:
- 376 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships have been established;
- racial harassment and racially motivated crimes have been made criminal offences by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998;
- the asylum backlog has been cut from 103,495 at the end of January 2000 to 49,690 by the end of February 2001; and
- good progress is being made in reducing the incidence of fire deaths in England and Wales. They have dropped from 605 in 1997 to 534 in 1999.
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