19 Sept 2002 : Column 1W
Written Answers to
Questions
Thursday 19 September 2002
HOME DEPARTMENT
PFI/PPP
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the difference was between the price offered in reaching preferred bidder stage and the final contract price for PPP contracts let by his Department in each of the last four years; and if he will make a statement. [45618]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 25 March 2002]: From the best information available, the Department has one project classified as a Public Private Partnership (PPP), but figures are unavailable due to the contract value being based on demand and therefore subject to variation.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the difference was between the price offered in reaching preferred bidder stage and the final contract price for PPP contracts let by his Department in each of the last four years; and if he will make a statement. [45603]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 25 March 2002]: From the best information available, I list the differences between preferred bidder price and final contract price in Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) contracts let in the four years since 1 March 1998:
| Year | Net Difference £Million |
|---|---|
| 1/3/98–28/2/99 | +0.7 |
| 1/3/99–29/2/00 | -22.0 |
| 1/3/00–28/2/01 | -4.1 |
| 1/3/01–28/2/02 | +0.5 |
| Total | -24.9 |
Anglo-Italian Meetings
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in the last six months (a) he and (b) his officials have met their Italian counterparts; and what subjects were discussed. [56892]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 16 May 2002]: Home Office Ministers and officials participate on a regular basis in European and international fora at which their Italian counterparts are present. In particular, working groups of the European Union Member States meet routinely to discuss Justice and Home Affairs matters.
Specifically, the Home Secretary met briefly with the then Italian Minister of Interior, Mr. Claudio Scajola, on 16 November 2001 during a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels.
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Two representatives of the Italian Ministry of Interior also visited the International Policy Directorate in the Immigration and Nationality Department on 14–15 January 2002 to discuss Italian proposals for the creation of a European border guard.
Correspondence
Mr. Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 15 May from the hon. Member for Manchester, Central, regarding Mr. G S, Ref 14130/02. [71819]
Beverley Hughes: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 19 August.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him of 27 May from the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire, regarding Mr. Peter Elliott, a constituent. [71311]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 19 July 2002]: I wrote to the hon. Member on 26 July.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 21 January. [67619]
Mr. Hilary Benn: I apologise for the delay.
A reply to the hon. Member was dispatched on 8 July 2002.
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 20 June from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Faia Ali Bafadhel. [72140]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 22 July 2002.
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 22 April from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Pat McGuinness. [61677]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 20 June 2002.
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 30 April from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. Sumerra Riaz. [72148]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 5 September 2002.
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 10 June from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Elma Gzoub. [72142]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 2 September 2002.
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Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 7 June from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Dave Burley. [72141]
Mr. John Denham: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 24 July 2002.
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 10 June from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Tikka Singh and Inda Kaur. [72144]
Mr. Blunkett: My noble Friend Lord Filkin replied on my behalf on 9 August 2002.
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 10 June from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Saran Singh Taal. [72143]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 22 July 2002.
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter to him dated 29 May from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. A. Bibi. [72145]
Mr. Blunkett: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 23 August explaining that his letter had been transferred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who are responsible for dealing with the issues raised.
Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average waiting time is for acknowledgement of a passport when handed over the counter in Croydon. [72401]
Beverley Hughes: When a passport or other valuable document is handed into the Public Enquiry Office in Croydon, an acknowledgement letter is issued immediately by the counter officer, listing all of the documents received.
Border Controls
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions have taken place on (a) common border controls for the EU and (b) action against the clandestine transportation of illegal immigrants through member states. [73211]
Beverley Hughes: We discuss migration and asylum issues with our European Union partners on a regular basis. At the Seville European Council on 21 and 22 June, Member States agreed a range of proposals to deliver more rapid progress on migration and asylum. These include measures to increase co-operation between Member States' national border guard services and to tackle illegal migration. Work is already under way to take forward these proposals.
Operation Street Cred
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of Operation Street Cred in the Wirral. [72867]
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Mr. John Denham: Operation Street Cred is a new initiative launched by Merseyside Police on 19 June to tackle youth disorder in Wirral. It is too early to make an assessment of the scheme but I have asked Merseyside Police to keep me informed of progress.
Police Identification Procedures
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time is for fingerprint evidence to be processed in (a) England and Wales and (b) Thames Valley Police in each year since 1997. [73142]
Mr Denham: Figures for the average time for fingerprint evidence to be processed are not collated for England and Wales.
Thames Valley Police Fingerprint Bureau has a target that fingerprint evidence should be processed within 14 days. For 2001, the 14 day target started from the point where the request to process the evidence is received by the Fingerprint Bureau. In 2002 the 14-day target starts from the point when the request has been allocated to a fingerprint expert within the Bureau. Thames Valley Police have only compiled statistics on the time taken to process fingerprint evidence for the last two years, their figures are:
2001: Out of 622 cases, 97.9 per cent. of cases processed within 14.days.
2002 (to date): Out of 354 cases, 99.2 per cent. of cases were processed within 14 days.
Mr. John Denham: This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
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