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Young Offenders

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children were locked out of prisons overnight; at which prisons; and at which police stations they were held since April 2000. [29603]

Beverley Hughes: Since April 2000, approximately 1,720 15 to 17-year-olds have been held overnight in police cells following a failure to return them to prisons designated to hold juveniles. The prisons concerned and the numbers associated with each are set out in the table. Information relating to the police stations at which they were held is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Figures for Ashfield, Brinsford and Portland may be understated as some information is available for the year commencing April 2001 only. Figures for Feltham and Onley may include some young offenders (18 to 21-year-olds).

Designed establishments	Lodged in police cells April 2000 to date
Juveniles only
Hollesley Bay	117
Huntercombe	79
Werrington	54
Wetherby	237
	Holding both juveniles and young offenders
Ashfield	27
Brinsford	49
Castington	145
Feltham	192
Hindley	2
Lancaster Farms	110
Portland	38
Onley	283
Stoke Heath	387

Immigration

Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of backlog of immigration

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applications from (a) work permit holders, (b) people with UK ancestry, (c) EEA nationals and their spouses, (d) fiancés and fiancées, (e) spouses and (f) asylum seekers has been for each of the last five years; and what levels of backlog he predicts for the next two years. [30995]

Angela Eagle: I regret that information on predicted backlogs for the next two years and on individual types of general and settlement cases undecided is not available.

The number of asylum applications awaiting an initial decision on 31 December in each of the last five years is shown in the table. There were 43,000 asylum applications awaiting an initial decision on 30 September 2001, the latest date for which information is available.

Applications for asylum awaiting initial decision, 1996–2000, principal applicants only⁽¹⁴⁾

Year	Asylum applications outstanding at end of year(15)
1996	57,405
1997	51,795
1998	64,770
1999	119,700
2000(16)	89,100

⁽¹⁴⁾ Figures rounded to nearest five, except for 1999 and 2000 which are rounded to nearest 100.

⁽¹⁵⁾ Figures for 1998 and earlier years are not directly comparable with figures for later years.

⁽¹⁶⁾ Provisional

Information on the number of asylum cases awaiting an initial decision is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/ immigration1.htm. Information on the number of asylum applications awaiting an initial decision at the end of 2001 will be published on 28 February 2002.

Asylum Seekers

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment the Government have made of the appeal facilities that would be available to asylum seekers who would be housed in the proposed accommodation centre at RAF Turnhouse. [32518]

Angela Eagle: Accommodation centres will provide asylum seekers with access to legal advice for their appeals. The location of appeal hearing centres is a matter for the Immigration Appellate Authority. However, the Home Office will make provision for asylum seekers to travel to their appeal hearings if they wish to attend.

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department intends to have with representatives of (a) the City of Edinburgh council, (b) the Scottish Executive and (c) others regarding the proposed new asylum seeker accommodation centre at RAF Turnhouse. [32520]

Angela Eagle: The Home Office intends to consult widely within the constraints of the planning process, time and departmental resources.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers who purport to be children have subsequently been found to be adults in the last two years. [32193]

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Angela Eagle [holding answer 1 February 2002]: Between November 2000 and September 2001, inclusive, there were 1,120 age disputed cases (rounded to the nearest five) of principal applicants who applied in-country. These cases are not included in the published data on unaccompanied minors. Information is not available on either the number of age disputed cases who lodged their application at port, nor on other months in 2000 and 2001.

Information on unaccompanied minors is published annually in the statistical bulletin "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom", a copy of which is available in the Library, and from the RDS website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ rds/immigration1.html

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 15 January 2002, Official Report, column 180W, on asylum seekers, if he will list the categories of data to be stored on the micro-chip on the asylum seeker identification card. [31329]

Angela Eagle: The data held in the Application Registration Card micro chip are:

1. Name

2. Address

3. Immigration Fingerprint Bureau (IFB) Ref. No.

4. Home Office Ref. No.

5. Port/Local Enforcement Office (LEO) Reference

6. National Asylum Support Service (NASS) Ref. No.

7. NASS Status

8. Originating Port/LEO Code

9. Date of Birth

10. DOB disputed?

11. Sex

12. Nationality Code

13. Nationality sub group

14. Reason printed

15. Asylum/Non Asylum

16. Place of original issue

17. Date of original issue

18. Next report date

19. Card Issue No.

20. Card Serial Number

21. Photo Image

22. Fingerprint template

23. Issuing Officer

24. Fingerprints taken?

25. Number of dependants

26. Dependant of

27. Language 1

28. Language 2

29. Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker Child (UASC)—Responsible authority

30. Employment status.

All items will be readable by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) officials using portable 'QuickCheck' readers. Name, National Asylum Support Service (NASS) Reference Number, Next Report Date and Card Issue Number will also, in due course, be readable by those issuing NASS benefit payments.

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Application Registration Card data will remain subject to review and change.

Computer Hacking

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish for each Department contributing to the Unified reporting and Alert Scheme for (a) internal hacking and (b) external hacking incidents the number of incidents categorised as (i) access denied, (ii) browsing, (iii) password abuse, (iv) privilege abuse, (v) data stolen/disclosed, (vi) files deleted/damaged, (vii) fraud and (viii) other. [31875]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 31 January 2002]: Reports are made to the United Incident Reporting and Alert Scheme (UNIRAS) by a wide variety of critical national infrastructure organisations, including Government Departments, on an in-confidence basis.

For the period of 1 January 1999 to 29 January 2002 the totals for reports submitted by Government Departments, not capable of being split between external and internal incidents without disproportionate cost, are:

	Number
Hacking incidents of all kinds	13,146
Browsing	47
Password abuse	11
Privilege abuse	30
Data stolen/disclosed	10
Files deleted/damaged	23
Access denied	12,929
Fraud	2

Terrorist Videos

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to prevent the (a) import, (b) copying and (c) distribution of videos similar to those produced by GSPC and available in Finsbury Park mosque; [31965]

(2) if he will make a statement about the action he proposes to take in relation to the videos produced by GSPC being distributed at Finsbury Park mosque. [31963]

Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 31 January 2002]: I have already made it clear that anyone breaking the law and inciting violence, whether under the provisions of the Terrorism Act, Race Relations Act or the Public Order Act will be prosecuted. Importation of obscene material is an offence under section 42 of the Customs Consolidation Act 1876. The Obscene Publications Act 1959 makes it a criminal offence to publish any article (including videos) which is considered to be obscene.

In the first instance it is the responsibility of the police to decide whether there are sufficient grounds to launch a criminal investigation and that of the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to bring a prosecution. The Metropolitan police are investigating the content and sale of these videos and are discussing with the Crown Prosecuting Service to determine whether prosecutions are possible.

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