---

Stop and Search

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research has been undertaken into technology required to enable officers to provide subjects of a stop and search with an immediate printed record of the incident; what information on this research is in the public domain; and what assessment he has made of the potential applications such technology will have for other aspects of police work. [29736]

Mr. Denham: To date no research has been undertaken specifically on the technology required to enable police officers to issue subjects of stops and searches with an immediate printed record of the encounter.

On 1 November 2001 my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary published an independent study entitled "Diary of a Police Officer", which considered what more could be done to free police officers from the unnecessary paperwork and other obstacles which prevent them from

29 Jan 2002 : Column 295W

spending more time in public. Subsequently in the White Paper, "Policing a new Century" (CM 5326), published on 5 December 2001, my right hon. Friend announced the establishment of a task force, chaired by Sir David O'Dowd, to consider how to take forward the recommendations in this and other relevant reports, in order to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens on the police. The task force is considering the implementation of information technology as part of this project.

Baton Rounds

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 19 November 2001, Official Report, column 92W, on baton rounds, how many plastic baton rounds have been procured in each year since 1981 by each of the 36 police forces in England and Wales and three non-Home Office forces; and what the annual cost of such procurement for each force was. [29737]

Mr. Denham: I have accepted the advice of the Association of Chief Police Officers that the disclosure of this information, on an individual force basis, would be prejudicial to operational effectiveness.

23,090 baton rounds were purchased by Home Office and non-Home Office forces in 2000, at a total cost of £157,474; and 25,500 in 2001 at a total cost of £173,910. Information for previous years is not readily available.

Sustainable Development

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his Department met its aim of identifying departmental sustainable development indicators by December 2001. [27535]

Angela Eagle [holding answer 16 January 2002]: Yes. Fifteen key topics have been identified upon which the Department has an impact, and sustainable development indicators are being finalised. They will be in line with national indicators and cross-Government targets where these exist.

Racial Offences

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has undertaken into the operation of laws on race hate and racially aggravated offences; what the conclusions of this research are; what relevance this research has for consideration of a religious hate law; and if he will place research findings in the Library. [29734]

Angela Eagle [holding answer 23 January 2002]: We commissioned researchers from the Cambridge University Institute of Criminology to evaluate the implementation of the legislation on racially-aggravated offences as contained in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. This research explored the first two years of this legislation to find out how criminal justice agencies had responded in their use of these new laws, and in their practices and procedures. It is expected that the report will be published in the spring.

This research was commissioned well in advance of the events of September 11 last year. It was these events that prompted our proposing the introduction of religious hatred provisions as part of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Bill.

29 Jan 2002 : Column 296W

Immigration Service Staff

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 12 December 2001, Official Report, column 922W, how many Immigration Service staff speak (a) Arabic, (b) Hindi, (c) Urdu, (d) Farsi or Dari and (e) Pushtu; how many persons of what grades are trained to speak each language; and how many translators have been employed for how many paid hours in each language; and at what cost. [29821]

Angela Eagle: Since September 2001 the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) has held a national database of all its interpreters. The database currently holds 473 Arabic speakers, 359 Hindi, 429 Urdu, 261 Farsi, 84 Dari and 64 Pushtu. No records are currently held centrally as to the amount of hours interpreters have worked in individual languages.

Details of the languages spoken by immigration staff are not currently held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost. However, the Immigration Service is creating a database of training received and qualifications held by immigration service staff. The majority of interpreting and translation services for those in the care of the Immigration Service are largely provided by external translators.

Police (Hampshire)

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to provide funds to increase police numbers in Hampshire. [30952]

Mr. Denham: Under the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) recruitment initiative, funds have been provided to enable Hampshire constabulary to recruit a total of 243 recruits, over and above the force's previous recruitment plans, for the three years to March 2003.

Hampshire officers appointed since 1 September 1994 and not in receipt of housing allowances, benefit from a new allowance introduced 1 April 2001 for officers in eight forces around London, in view of the higher cost of living in those force areas. The allowance followed agreement in the Police Negotiating Board and for Hampshire officers is £1,000 a year. The Home Office meets 75 per cent. of the cost of the allowance for each qualifying officer.

All police forces, including Hampshire, benefit from the national recruitment advertising campaign funded by the Home Office. The campaign was launched in August 2000 and the latest phase began on 1 January 2002.

Deportations

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken was from the refusal of asylum status and exceptional leave to remain to removal from the country in the last 12 months. [29816]

Angela Eagle: I regret that the information requested is not available and could be obtained only by examining individual case files at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the last three months airlines have refused to carry deportees; what reason was given in each case; and if he will make a statement. [29823]

29 Jan 2002 : Column 297W

Angela Eagle: An airline may occasionally refuse to carry passengers refused entry, illegal entrants and those subject to formal deportation proceedings if it has concerns for the safety of their aircraft, crew and passengers. We are aware of a small number of incidents where airlines have refused to carry certain individuals because of concerns they have about their conduct when boarding the aircraft. Where there have been concerns, the United Kingdom Immigration Service has arranged for the individual to be escorted during the flight.

On 11 January 2002, British Airways refused to remove a failed asylum seeker to Zimbabwe. Removal directions were temporarily suspended by the Home Office following representations from legal representatives.

During a recent meeting with British Airways (BA), the Minister for Asylum and Immigration confirmed with BA that it was their concern for the safety of their aircraft, crew and passengers that prompted them to refuse to carry.

Asylum Appeals

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken between the receipt of asylum appeals by his Department and the final appeal decision in (a) all cases, (b) the cases of single asylum seekers and (c) family cases was in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [29724]

Angela Eagle: For the 12 month period ending 30 September 2001 data from the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA), for those cases where data are available, indicates that the average time taken from receipt of an asylum appeal by the Home office to final determination through both tiers of the IAA is:

(a) 26 weeks for all asylum appeals;

(b) 25 weeks for non-family cases (the IAA do not hold data on single asylum seekers separately);

(c) 27 weeks for family cases.

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken was from lodging an asylum appeal with the Home Office to the final decision in each year since 1998. [29818]

Angela Eagle: For the 12-month period ending 30 September 2001, data from the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA), for those cases where data are available, indicates that the average time taken from receipt of an asylum appeal by the Home Office to final determination through both tiers of the IAA, is 26 weeks.

Data are not available for the earlier periods.

---