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19 Sept 2002 : Column 12W—continued

Immigration Cases

Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigration cases are awaiting allocation to a case worker following receipt of application documents; for how many years the largest outstanding case has been waiting; and how many are from addresses in Beckenham constituency. [73112]

Beverley Hughes: I regret that the information requested is not available. We aim to decide 70 per cent. of all new general immigration applications on initial consideration within three weeks. At present such applications are taking on average around four weeks to decide but we are working to reduce this to three weeks as soon as possible. Applications that cannot be decided on initial consideration are allocated to a case management unit for further consideration. Some of these applications are, at present, taking up to 12 months to consider due to the large number of cases currently in the system. It is not possible to identify applications from addresses in Beckenham without scrutiny of individual case files at disproportionate cost.

Emergency Services (Deaths)

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many deaths resulted from the failure of police and fire services to arrive at their destinations (a) on the day of the recent London Underground strike and (b) the same date in the previous year. [73027]

Mr. Denham: We are not aware of any police or fire service vehicles that failed to reach their destination on the days of the London Underground strike on 17 and 18 July 2002.

19 Sept 2002 : Column 13W

Freemasons (Police)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on Freemasons in the police force. [73246]

Mr. Denham: Voluntary arrangements for the declaration of freemasonry membership have been established for the police, the judiciary and other parts of the criminal justice system. The Government have made no decisions about the format of and arrangements for public access to any registers.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officers in (a) the Metropolitan Police, (b) Leicestershire Police and (c) Nottinghamshire Police have declared themselves to be Freemasons. [73247]

Mr. Denham: A voluntary survey of freemasonry membership was conducted by forces in 1999. From information provided by forces, the response rate was 34.4 per cent. in the Metropolitan Police Service and 35.1 per cent. in Leicestershire. This includes officers, support

19 Sept 2002 : Column 14W

staff and special constables in both forces. Of those individuals who responded, 1.83 per cent. in the Metropolitan Police Service and 0.71 per cent. in Leicestershire declared that they were members of the freemasons.

Information in respect of Nottinghamshire Police is not available.

Foreign Students

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign students have received visas to enter the UK to work as seasonal workers in agriculture in each of the last five years, broken down by nation and region. [73055]

Beverley Hughes: The available information relates to the total number of persons who have been granted leave to enter the United Kingdom on the Seasonal Agricultural Scheme. Scheme participants must be students in full-time education and aged between 18–25.

The table shows the number of admissions into the United Kingdom by nationality for the period 1996–2000 inclusive. Information is not available for 2001.

Table 1. Agricultural Workers Given Leave to enter the United Kingdom, excluding EEA Nationals, by nationality, 1996–2001(1)

United Kingdom					Number of Persons
	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Bulgaria	510	1,150	1,050	1,190	1,290
Cyprus	¡	–	–	–	¡
Czech Republic	210	300	270	270	250
Slovak Republic	540	830	790	310	370
Hungary	60	70	110	90	100
Malta	–	–	–	–	–
Poland	2,120	3,660	3,690	3,470	3,200
Romania	130	280	190	320	310
Estonia	90	160	180	120	120
Latvia	90	230	250	290	340
Lithuania	710	1,250	1,430	1,370	1,250
Russia	290	190	110	130	210
Ukraine	540	790	1,010	1,670	1,840
Other former USSR	70	140	150	210	420
Switzerland	¡	¡	–	¡	¡
Turkey	50	40	20	30	20
Yugoslavia	¡	¡	–	¡	¡
Croatia	–	¡	¡	¡	–
Slovenia	¡	¡	10	¡	¡
Other former Yugoslavia	30	50	80	140	120
Other Europe	–	–	¡	¡	¡
TOTAL EUROPE	5,440	9,160	9,340	9,610	9,860
Argentina	–	–	¡	¡	¡
Barbados	–	–	–	–	–
Brazil	¡	¡	–	–	¡
Canada	–	¡	–	–	¡
Chile	–	–	–	–	–
Colombia	–	–	–	–	–
Guyana	–	–	–	–	–
Jamaica	–	–	–	¡	–
Mexico	–	–	–	–	–
Peru	–	–	–	–	–
Trinidad and Tobago	–	–	–	–	–
USA	–	¡	¡	–	¡
Venezuela	–	–	–	–	¡
Other Americas	¡	¡	¡	–	¡
TOTAL AMERICAS	¡	10	10	¡	10
Algeria	–	–	–	–	–
Angola	¡	¡	–	–	–
Congo Democratic Republic	–	–	¡	–	–
Egypt	¡	¡	¡	¡	–
Ethiopia	–	–	–	–	–
Ghana	10	10	10	10	10
Kenya	10	¡	¡	¡	¡
Libya	–	¡	–	–	–
Mauritius	–	–	¡	–	–
Morocco	¡	¡	¡	¡	¡
Nigeria	¡	¡	–	¡	¡
Sierra Leone	¡	¡	–	–	–
Somalia	–	–	–	¡	–
South Africa	–	–	–	¡	¡
Sudan	–	–	–	–	–
Tanzania	20	10	10	¡	10
Tunisia	¡	¡	¡	¡	–
Uganda	¡	–	¡	¡	¡
Zambia	–	–	–	–	–
Zimbabwe	–	–	–	–	–
Other Africa	10	10	10	20	30
TOTAL AFRICA	80	60	40	60	50
Bangladesh	¡	¡	–	¡	–
India	¡	–	¡	¡	¡
Pakistan	¡	¡	¡	¡	–
TOTAL INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT	¡	¡	¡	10	¡
Iran	–	¡	–	–	–
Iraq	–	–	–	–	–
Israel	–	¡	–	–	–
Jordan	–	¡	¡	–	–
Kuwait	–	–	–	–	–
Lebanon	–	¡	–	–	–
Saudi Arabia	–	–	–	–	–
Syria	–	–	–	–	–
Yemen	–	–	¡	–	–
Other Middle East	¡	¡	¡	–	–
China	¡	–	–	10	30
Hong Kong BDTC/BN(O)	–	–	–	–	–
Hong Kong Stateless	–	–	–	–	–
Indonesia	–	–	–	–	–
Japan	¡	¡	¡	–	¡
Malaysia	–	–	¡	–	–
Philippines	–	–	–	–	¡
Singapore	–	–	–	–	–
South Korea	–	–	–	–	¡
Sri Lanka	¡	¡	¡	¡	¡
Taiwan	–	–	–	–	–
Thailand	–	–	¡	–	–
Other Asia	¡	¡	¡	30	110
Non-ISC Asia	10	20	10	40	140
TOTAl ASIA	10	20	10	50	150
Australia	¡	–	¡	10	¡
New Zealand	–	¡	¡	¡	¡
Other Oceania	–	–	–	–	–
TOTAL OCEANIA	¡	¡	10	10	¡
British Overseas Citizens	–	–	–	–	–
Stateless N–E–S–	10	30	40	30	30
All Nationalities (EXL-EEA)	5,550	9,280	9,450	9,760	10,100

(1)All figures rounded to the nearest 10, or if above 1000 to the nearest 3 significant figures.

– 0

¡ 5 or less

19 Sept 2002 : Column 15W

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what regulations are in force relating to (a) the employment of foreign students as seasonal workers in agriculture, (b) the standards of welfare and accommodation provided for foreign students employed as seasonal workers in agriculture and (c) remuneration of foreign students employed as seasonal workers in agriculture; [73056]

19 Sept 2002 : Column 16W

(2) which authority is charged with supervising standards of accommodation welfare and remuneration of foreign students employed as seasonal workers in agriculture. [73053]

Beverley Hughes: The Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme (SAWS) is administered under Home Office oversight by seven approved operators.

19 Sept 2002 : Column 17W

A Code of Practice sets out the obligations of all those involved. The recruitment of workers is the responsibility of the operators. Operators must ensure that farmers provide suitable accommodation and access to recreational activities, such as the opportunity to learn English. Operators are also responsible for ensuring that farmers adhere to minimum pay regulations set out by the Agricultural Wages Board. The Board cannot set a minimum rate that is below the National Minimum Wage. Operators may withdraw workers mid-season and exclude farmers from the scheme if they do not provide suitable pay and accommodation.

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