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Asylum Seekers

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to provide temporary accommodation for asylum seekers within the Daventry district; and if he will make a statement. [87120]

Beverley Hughes : Daventry is not currently a dispersal area for asylum seekers who need accommodation. Asylum seekers without accommodation will be provided with emergency accommodation while their application for support is assessed. The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) does not have any current plans to use Daventry as either a dispersal area or for the emergency accommodation of asylum seekers.

Urgent accommodation has had to be found to cater for the arrivals from Sangatte. As part of this exercise NASS did consider a site (the Landmark hotel) in the Daventry district. In the event a decision was taken not to use the site for this or any other purpose at this time.

NASS needs to keep its accommodation needs under continual review. While I cannot say that the area will never be used to accommodate asylum seekers I can say that we have no present plans to do so.

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Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it a policy of the Government to require all asylum seekers to comply with a medical examination; and if he will make a statement. [87556]

Beverley Hughes: We do not believe that it is necessary to require all asylum seekers to undergo a medical examination as a matter of policy although development of the new policy initiatives introduced by the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act will effectively introduce screening to all those who attend an induction centre.

Once they are fully operational we intend that all new asylum applicants who go to an induction centre on arrival will undergo basic health screening. A pilot screening programme started at the Dover induction centre this summer. The evaluation of this pilot has not yet been completed. Immigration officers are obliged, under the terms of the immigration rules, to refer for medical examination anyone who mentions health or medical treatment as a reason for coming to the United Kingdom or who appears not to be in good physical or mental health. Furthermore those seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom for a period of more than six months should normally be referred.

Asylum Seekers (Support)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of applicants per week who, from 8 January 2003, will no longer be eligible for support as a result of section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002; what steps he will take to monitor the number of in-country asylum applicants refused National Asylum Support Service assistance as a result of section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, whose claim for asylum is subsequently refused on the grounds of non-compliance; and if he will make a statement. [85820]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 10 December 2002]: Based on an analysis of recent intake it is estimated that, from 8 January 2003, 700 applicants per week (ie an average of about 100 per day) would fall into the category of people who could no longer be eligible for support as a result of section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (the 2002 Act) unless they could show that they had made their asylum application as soon as reasonably practicable after entering the United Kingdom.

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From 8 January 2003, there will be detailed internal monitoring of the numbers refused National Asylum Support Service support as a result of section 55 of the 2002 Act. This information will be used to track each case through to service of the initial decision on the asylum application and to monitor the number subsequently refused on the grounds of non-compliance.

Child Safety Orders

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many child safety orders have been in place in each month since their introduction. [86178]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 9 December 2002]: Two child safety orders were issued in the areas in which they were piloted between September 1998 and June 2000.

Child Curfew Schemes

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many local child curfew schemes were in force in each month between (a) October 1998 and July 2001 and (b) August 2001 and the latest month for which figures are available. [86181]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 9 December 2002]: No applications have yet been received to establish a local child curfew scheme under section 14 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Some local authorities and police forces have considered the possibility, but concluded that other measures should be taken to tackle relevant local problems.

Class A Drugs (Teenagers)

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many teenagers have tried class A drugs in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) the north-east of England and (c) the constituency of Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East. [86499]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The 2001–02 British Crime Survey estimates that 11 per cent. of 16 to 19 year-olds in England and Wales have tried a class A drug. The equivalent estimate for the north-east of England is 14 per cent. The difference between theEngland and Wales estimate and the north-east estimate is not statistically significant. These data are not available at constituency level.

The drug use, smoking and drinking among young people in England in 2001 survey estimates that six per cent. of school children aged between 11 and 15 years old have tried a class A drug. No geographical breakdown is available for this age group.

Community Beat Officers

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many community beat officers are working in the London Borough of Wandsworth. [86825]

Mr. Denham: This information is not collected centrally.

Community Support Officers

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many local authorities

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contributed to the cost of recruiting, training and equipping local neighbourhood special constables for duty in their area in each year since section 2 of the Police Act 1996 came into operation. [86916]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 12 December 2002]: This information is not collected centrally.

Correspondence

Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when he intends to reply to the letter forwarded to him, dated 17 October 2002, from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Burham Fajax; [86657]

(2) when he intends to reply to the letter to him, dated 17 October 2002, from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Burham Fatah. [87662]

Beverley Hughes: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 13 December 2002.

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall, North of 28 October regarding a constituent, ref. 22821/2. [86873]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 12 December 2002]: My noble Friend (Lord Filkin), wrote to my right hon. Friend on 11 December 2002.

Mrs. Roe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for Broxbourne will receive a reply to her letters of 14 August, 11 September, 7 November and 5 December relating to her constituent, Mr. Mohamed Mady. [87006]

Beverley Hughes: I wrote to the hon. Member on 16 December 2002.

County Support Officers

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if county support officers will be issued with (a) body armour, (b) radios and (c) other forms of officer safety equipment; if they will undergo (i) officer safety training and (ii) first aid training; who will supervise the CSOs; whether additional training in supervision will be provided to officers assuming this responsibility; who will complete CSO annual appraisals; if they will form part of the service PDRs; who will be responsible for CSO professional development; and who will be required to check and monitor reports generated by the CSOs; [86809]

(2) if there will be a facility for the services of a county support officer to be dispensed with if the required standards are not achieved; if there will be grading within the CSO infrastructure; who will be responsible for CSO complaints and discipline; what arrangements have been made for CSO transport; if the CSOs will have their own drivers; and who will deal with administration in connection with CSOs; [86808]

(3) who will brief and de-brief county support officers; if they will be posted operationally with police officers; who will be assuming responsibility for discharging a duty of care towards CSOs; what impact he estimates additional supervision will have on

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(a) sergeants and inspectors; where CSOs will be based; what educational standards are necessary for recruitment to CSO recruitment; what medical and health standards are required; if CSOs will be required to attain a set level of fitness; what the requirements are with respect to previous convictions; what the content is of the CSO training programme; who will be delivering the CSO training; where it will be delivered; and if he will make a statement. [86810]

Mr. Denham: Chief officers can designate persons employed by their police authority as Community Support Officers (CSOs) under section 38 of the Police Reform Act 2002 when they are satisfied that the person is a suitable person to effectively carry out the functions for the purposes of which he is designated and that he has received adequate training in the carrying out of those functions. Issues such as the deployment, equipment, and supervision arrangements for CSOs are operational matters and are determined by chief officers with knowledge of the local areas where they will deploy CSOs. A chief officer can also remove a designation if he considers that the conditions for designation are no longer met.

CSOs are a new addition to the extended policing family. We are aiming to have 1,200 CSOs deployed nationally in 27 forces by 1 April 2003. Once the lessons from the deployment of the first batches of CSOs become clear the Secretary of State, following consultation with the Association of Police Authorities and the Association of Chief Police Officers, will issue a Code of Practice under section 45 of the Police Reform Act to which chief officers must have regard, to set out good practice in relation to some of these matters.

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