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Buildings Insurance
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of buildings insurance to his Department was (a) before and (b) after 11 September 2001. [66922]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Departments are required to comply with the Government's general policy on insurance, which is set out in Government Accounting, Chapter 30, para 30.2.5, which notes that Government do not need to purchase insurance to protect the viability of its business, and should consider insurance only where the value of claims met would exceed the cost of insurance premiums. Commercial insurance of a building is acceptable in cases where (a) insurance is a condition of a lease (b) the lessor will not accept a Government indemnity (c) incurring the total cost of the accommodation in question, including the cost of the insurance, is more cost-effective that other accommodation options [Government Accounting, para 30.2.11a].
The Home Department complies with this policy and with rare exceptions self-insures buildings in which it is the sole occupier. Where part of a building is leased and insurance forms part of the services provided to the building as a whole by the lessor, an element of the service charge payment will relate to the insurance cost, but extracting this element from such charges could only be done at disproportionate cost.
Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts involving accommodation provision an insurance element also forms part of the overall PFI charge. The Department's policy, based on advice from the Office of Government Commerce is that any additional insurance costs following 11 September is primarily a matter for the private sector.
Statistics
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the statistics that are collected by his Department by English parliamentary constituency; and if he will make a statement. [67095]
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Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 8 July 2002]: The Home Department undertakes a wide range of research activities that support the development of information-led policy, including scientific and engineering research, market and opinion research and social research. My Research, Development and Statistics Directorate (RDS) conducts social research supporting all seven Home Office aims. However, RDS do not collect statistics at parliamentary constituency level for a number of reasons. In particular, many of the statistics collected locally are based on administrative areas, such as local and police authorities, and these do not always share boundaries with parliamentary constituencies.
In the past, following each United Kingdom (UK) Parliamentary General Election a House of Commons Paper compiled by RDS was laid before Parliament in the form of a Return to an Address, and similarly, after each European Parliamentary Election a Home Office Statistical Bulletin was published by RDS. Each publication contained statistics of individual candidates' Election Expenses (except for the bulletin covering the 1999 European Parliamentary elections where, because of the voting system used, individual candidates did not have control over their expenses). Both publications also contained details, by UK Parliamentary or European Parliamentary constituency, of rejected ballot papers, postal and proxy votes, and votes polled. The responsibility for compiling and publishing these figures passed on 1 December 2000 to the Electoral Commission.
The full list of RDS publications is available on the Home Office website and copies are also placed in the Library.
May I also refer you to the letter sent to you on 8 July 2002 by the National Statistician in which he stated that the Office for National Statistics do not collect statistics at parliamentary constituency level.
Zimbabwe
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons arriving at a port of entry (a) from Zimbabwe and (b) claiming to be citizens of Zimbabwe from another port of embarkation have been refused entry by immigration officers and returned to Zimbabwe in the last six months for which figures are available. [69081]
Beverley Hughes: The available information relates to the number of Zimbabwean nationals refused leave to enter the United Kingdom and removed. The latest six months for which data is available is for July to December 2000, and is shown in the table.
Information on the original port of embarkation, and the destination of persons removed from the United Kingdom is only available by examination of individual case files at disproportionate cost.
| 2000 | Zimbabwean nationals refused entry to the United Kingdom and removed(22) |
|---|---|
| July | 110 |
| August | 130 |
| September | 160 |
| October | 170 |
| November | 220 |
| December | 300 |
| Total refused and removed July-December 2000 | 1,090 |
(22) Includes persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action has been initiated against them and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntarily Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). All figures are rounded to nearest five.
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Information on the number of people refused leave to enter the United Kingdom and removed during 2001 will be published later this year in the Command paper "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2001", and will be available from the Library and the website of the Research Development and Statistics Directorate of the Home Office http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
Romanian Immigrants
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with the Romanian Government on the issue of illegal immigrants by Romanian citizens into the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [68450]
Beverley Hughes: Home Office officials met their Romanian counterparts in November 2001 and March 2002 to negotiate the terms of a readmission agreement between our two countries. The draft agreement is intended to improve co-operation between the United Kingdom and Romania in order to contribute to the prevention and combating of illegal migration. This it will do by facilitating the readmission to each country of its own citizens and third country nationals whose residence in the other country is illegal. Officials are currently working on finalising the text of the agreement, which we expect to be formally signed later this year.
The United Kingdom has also deployed two officers to Romania in an advisory capacity, to assist the Romanian government in creating a professional intelligence unit for
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combating organised immigration crime. The unit aims to provide intelligence packages to support operational activity to target the criminal gangs operating in and through Romania.
Removals (Injuries)
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons have been injured during removal from the UK during the last six months; what the nature of the injuries was and how they are documented; what the policy of the IND Enforcement Directorate is on removal of injured persons, and if he will make a statement. [68835]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 11 July 2002]: The Home Office does not keep statistics centrally recording those individuals injured during removal from the United Kingdom and these figures are available only at disproportionate cost.
Medical staff at the removal centre will examine any detainee who states that they are ill or injured prior to travel to ascertain if they are fit to travel.
A detainee injured during removal, while still in the United Kingdom would be referred to the Port Medical Inspector who would assess whether the detainee is fit to travel.
The escorting contractors complete an incident report detailing any incident occurring during removal.
Asylum Applications (Iraqis)
Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqis have claimed asylum in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years; how many of them claimed to be Kurdish; and how many of those claiming to be Kurdish (a) were granted refugee status, (b) were granted exceptional leave to remain, (c) were refused both and (d) were refused both after appeal. [69342]
Beverley Hughes: The table shows the applications and initial decisions of Iraqis, excluding dependants, claiming asylum from 1997 to 2001:
| 1997(23) | 1998(23) | 1999(23) | 2000(23),(24) | 2001(23),(24) | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applications received | 1,075 | 1,295 | 1,800 | 7,475 | 6,805 | 18,450 |
| Initial decisions(25) | 660 | 1,100 | 735 | 5,520 | 4,060 | 12,075 |
| Cases considered under normal procedures(26) | ||||||
| Granted asylum | 255 | 510 | 315 | 845 | 805 | 2,730 |
| Granted ELR | 295 | 500 | 320 | 2,455 | 1,800 | 5,370 |
| Refused | 110 | 90 | 100 | 2,220 | 1,455 | 3,975 |
| Backlog clearance exercise(27) | ||||||
| Granted asylum or ELR under backlog criteria | — | — | 5 | 10 | — | 15 |
| Refused under backlog criteria(28) | — | — | * | * | — | * |
(23) Data rounded to the nearest 5 with * = 1 or 2
(24) Provisional data
Initial decision figures do not necessarily relate to applications received in the same period
(25) Information is of initial decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions
(26) Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre 1996 asylum application backlog
(27) Includes some cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds
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Data for refusals after appeal are available only for 1998 when 25 appeals were dismissed.
It is not possible to say how many of the applicants are of Kurdish origin. Data on the ethnic origin of asylum seekers are not collated centrally and are therefore not available; the number of those who applied would be available only by examination of individual case files at disproportionate cost.
Information on asylum applications is published quarterly. The next publication will be available from 30 August 2002 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/ immigration1.html.
Mr. Jon Owen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those Iraqi Kurds who have been refused refugee status and exceptional leave to remain after appeal have (a) been removed from the United Kingdom and (b) left voluntarily in the last three years. [69343]
Beverley Hughes: The number of Iraqi nationals removed in the last three quarters of 2001 after making an application for asylum in the United Kingdom is given in the table, figures prior to this are not available. It is not possible to say how many of these are of Kurdish origin or at what stage of their application they were removed, it is also not possible to determine the number of persons who leave voluntarily without informing the Home Office of their departure.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Q2 2001 | 25 |
| Q3 2001 | 15 |
| Q4 2001 | 15 |
(28) Provisional estimated data, subject to change.
(29) Includes persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration.
(30) Nationality breakdown of dependants is unavailable.
(31) Data rounded to the nearest 5.
Information on the number of asylum removals is published on a quarterly basis. The next set of data will be available on 30 August 2002 on the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
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