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Contracts

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts were let by his Department and agencies for which he is responsible to (a) PWC Consulting or PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Ernst and Young, (c) Deloitte and Touche, (d) KPMG and (e) Andersen for consultancy services for the financial years (i) 1997–98, (ii) 1998–99, (iii) 1999–2000, (iv) 2000–01 and (v) 2001 to the latest date for which figures are available, indicating the remuneration in each case. [33851]

Angela Eagle: The available information on the number of contracts let by the Home Department to (a) Consulting or PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), (b) Ernst and Young, (c) Deloitte and Touche, (d) KPMG and (e) Anderson for consultancy services for the financial years (i) 1997–98, (ii) 1998–99, (iii) 1999–2000, (iv) 2000–01 and (v) 2001 to date indicating the remuneration made in each case is as follows:

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Company	Numbers of contracts	Remuneration
1997–98
Ernst and Young	1	10,665
KPMG	2	100,774
1998–99
Ernst and Young	1	35,250
PricewaterhouseCoopers	2	37,440
KPMG	3	226,955
1999–2000
PricewaterhouseCoopers	5	2,728,372
KPMG	1	25,000
Ernst and Young	2	311,000
Deloitte and Touche	1	130,000
2000–01
PricewaterhouseCoopers	4	2,284,258
Ernst and Young	2	1,166,913
2001 to date
PricewaterhouseCoopers	4	2,489,251
Deloitte and Touche	1	15,800
Ernst and Young	1	429,000

Notes:

Contracts were awarded following civil service rules.

The Home Office has not awarded any contracts to Anderson for the period in question.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff left the service of his Department and its agencies in the year ended 31 March 2001; how many left before attaining the formal retirement age of 60 years; and in respect of how many his Department and its agencies assumed responsibilities for making payments until retirement age. [37549]

Angela Eagle: I am sorry for the delay in answering this question. Information on the number of staff who have left, and where the Home Office and its agencies have assumed responsibility for the early departure costs is set out in the tables.

Staff who left in the 12 month period before 31 March 2002

	Number of staff who left the Department:
	in the year ended 31 March 2001	before the formal retirement age
United Kingdom Passport Agency (UKPA)	15	14
Forensic Science Service (FSS)	173	169
Fire Service College (FSC)	30	29
Main Home Office	1,030	986
Prison Service	3,685	3,165
Total	4,933	4,363

Note:

All methods of leaving the Department/agencies are included here.

Number of staff where the Department has responsibility for early departure costs until retirement age

Department/agency	Number
Home Office	19
Prison Service	45
United Kingdom Passport Service	2
Forensic Science Service	2
Fire Service College(28)	1
Total	69

⁽²⁸⁾ Responsibility for Fire Service College transferred to Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) as part of the machinery of Government changes in June 2001.

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Accommodation Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of hotel accommodation for departmental staff working away from home in each of the last four years. [41071]

Angela Eagle: The estimated costs of hotel accommodation for staff working away from home are contained in the table:

Year	Cost £
1998–99	28,220
1999–2000	249,462
2000–01	504,815
2001–02(29)	685,818

⁽²⁹⁾ To date

Fully accurate information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

The increase in expenditure is largely due to the expansion of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and the activities carried out by the National Asylum Support Service which has necessitated increased travelling for staff and stays away from home. It had been anticipated and included in budgets. A programme of regional recruitment is under way to manage down the number of staff who are posted to areas that require hotel stays.

Mr. Mustapha Sekhi

Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he intends to make a decision on the asylum application of Mr. Mustapha Sekhi, reference B1039408. [43209]

Angela Eagle [holding answer 14 March 2002]: My right hon. and noble Friend Lord Rooker wrote to the hon. Member on 9 April 2002.

Criminal Offences

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the criminal offences which have been (a) created in each year since 1997 and (b) abolished. [44995]

Mr. Keith Bradley [holding answer 21 March 2002]: A comprehensive and exhaustive list of new and abolished offences could be provided only at disproportionate cost. We can, however, provide the following information about Home Office measures which have been enacted since 1 May 1997.

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 created two new offences: breach of antisocial behaviour orders and breach of sex offender orders. It also created nine racially- aggravated offences (amended by the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 to "racially or religiously aggravated offences"), but these are based on existing offences and do not render unlawful behaviour which would otherwise have been lawful. The Data Protection Act 1998 created four new offences.

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The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 created 12 new offences. The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 created four new offences. The Football (Offences and Disorder) Act 1999 created one new offence.

The Terrorism Act 2000 created 38 new offences. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 created four new criminal offences. The Football (Disorder) Act 2000 created two new criminal offences. The Licensing (Young Persons) Act 2000 created one new criminal offence. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 created three new criminal offences.

The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 created 69 new criminal offences. The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 created three new criminal offences. The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 created two new criminal offences. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 created six new criminal offences.

The Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 created 15 new criminal offences. The Vehicle (Crimes) Act 2001 created 12 new criminal offences. The Private Security Industry Act 2001 created 10 new offences. The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 created 19 new offences.

Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what class of offences bail is (a) automatically refused and (b) automatically allowed. [52943]

Mr. Keith Bradley [holding answer 26 April 2002]: There are no classes of offences for which bail is either automatically granted or refused. The Bail Act 1976 establishes a presumption in favour of bail and then sets out exceptions to this presumption, so that the defendant need not be granted bail where he or she presents a bail risk. For example, where there are substantial grounds for believing that if released on bail the defendant would fail to return to court, would commit an offence, interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice. Each decision is at the discretion of the courts and each case is considered on its own merits.

Jury Service

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the exemption of medical professionals from jury service; and what plans he has to alter this. [47867]

Mr. Keith Bradley: The issue was considered by Sir Robin Auld as part of his independent review of the criminal courts. He recommended that no one should be excusable from jury service as of right, only on showing good reason for excusal. The Government are giving careful consideration to all the representations received on Sir Robin's review and will be announcing its response in the forthcoming Criminal Justice White Paper.

Immigration Appeals

Mr. Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what process there is to enable monitoring to take place concerning the speed and methods of transit of appeal bundle files from UK missions overseas to their initial destinations at the Appeals Support Service in this country; and what period of time it should take for an

1 May 2002 : Column 828W

appeal bundle to reach the Immigration Appellate Authority for consideration from the date of initial recording with the Appeals Support Service. [48862]

Angela Eagle: The target time for despatch of explanatory statements from entry clearance posts to the Home Office is one month from receipt of the notice of appeal for non-settlement applications and three months for settlement applications. Information on the actual time for despatch is not available.

There is no target governing the period between the receipt of an appeal bundle in the Home Office and its receipt in the Immigration Appellate Authority.

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