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29 Jan 2003 : Column 910W—continued
Full-time Equivalent Staff
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many full-time equivalent staff are employed in (a) the Department and (b) each of the agencies it sponsors; and what the figures were for 1997. [90672]
Mr. Blunkett: Home Office staff figures in each region and nation of the UK are published in "Civil Service Statistics" year on year and placed in the Library.
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Health and Safety
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether his Department and its agencies have met the commitment arising from Action Point 13 of the June 2000 Strategy statement on revitalising health and safety to summarise health and safety performance and plans in annual reports from the year 2001 onwards; [89496]
- (2) what information he has collated on the application to his Department and its agencies of the checklist, circulated by letter by Sir Richard Mottram, referred to under Action Point 12 of the revitalising health and safety strategy statement; and if he will make a statement [89498]
(3) which senior officials within his Department and its agencies take responsibility for health and safety at board or equivalent level; and where their names are publicised. [89497]
Hilary Benn: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Work and Pensions (Nicholas Brown) on 20 January 2003, Official Report, column 85W.
Immigration
Mr. Andrew Turner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what manpower complement is allocated by immigration services to each of the south coast ports; what his estimate is of how many persons entered through each port in the last year for which information is available; and what coverage is available for non-canalized ports of entry. [91252]
Beverley Hughes: The latest data on passenger arrivals that is available for public use is for 2001.
For a meaningful comparison, a snapshot taken on 31 December 2001 shows the actual number of staff in post at the south coast ports of Dover East, Dover Hoverport, Felixstowe, Folkestone, Newhaven, Plymouth, Poole, Portsmouth and Southampton on that date was 404 full time equivalent officers, comprising of 356 immigration service staff and 48 administrative staff.
The total number of passenger arrivals at south coast ports was 9,924,100. This figure is broken down as follows:
| South Coast Port | Number |
|---|---|
| Dover East | 6,340,000 |
| Dover Hoverport | 944,000 |
| Felixstowe | 55,200 |
| Folkestone | 28,900 |
| Newhaven | 169,000 |
| Plymouth | 328,000 |
| Poole | 140,000 |
| Portsmouth | 1,620,00 |
| Southampton | 299,000 |
Note:
Figures rounded to the nearest three significant digits.
The UK Immigration Service conducts regular risk assessments of small ports not routinely staffed and there is continuous monitoring of arrivals including spot checks. The details of passengers subject to immigration
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control arriving at small ports, which are not routinely staffed by the Immigration Service, are still checked against the Warnings Index system.
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2002, Official Report, column 988W, on immigration, whether the Reporting Line is still in operation; and when he will publish the evaluation of the trial. [93834]
Beverley Hughes: The trial of the confidential hotline ran from May to July 2002. I have remitted the recommendations of the evaluation back to officials for further details on cost and application. I undertook, in my response to the hon. member's most recent question on this subject, 20 January 2002, Official Report, column 183W, to write to the hon. member once these details have been considered. I will do so as soon as this consideration has taken place.
Ministerial Travel
Mr. Laws : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the total expenditure by his Department on ministerial travel (a) in the UK and (b) abroad, in each year from 1995–96 to 2002–03 (estimated); and if he will make a statement. [92442]
Mr. Blunkett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided by my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley South (Douglas Alexander) on 22 January 2003, Official Report, Column 333W.
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to bring into effect section 4 and section 76 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002; and if he will make a statement. [93258]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 27 January 2003]: Section 4 will be brought into force as soon as administrative arrangements for giving effect to the new appeal rights have been put into place. Section 76 will come into effect on 10 February.
New Prisons
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his Department's proposed spending plans on new prison building in 2003–04. [91897]
Hilary Benn: Existing funding is being used to deliver a programme to increase prison capacity. This will conclude in 2003–04 when 450 places will become available at Birmingham prison. This completes a programme that planned to increase capacity by 2,660 places.
Following the outcome of the recent Spending Review (SR 2002) the Government have committed further funding to increase prison capacity. By the end of 2003–04 it is intended that this will provide another 740 places across the prison estate.
Roma People
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many central and eastern
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European Roma he expects to migrate to the UK following the accession to the EU of (a) the Czech Republic, (b) Slovakia, (c) Hungary and (d) Poland. [93439]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 27 January 2003]: Research conducted by University College London for the Home Office, which will be published soon, suggests that the numbers of people who will migrate to the UK from the new member states will not be significant. This research corroborates a number of other independent studies which have looked at the scale of migration flows after enlargement. These have been summarised in reports by the European Commission in 2000 and the former Department for Education and Employment in 1999. None of this research has been able to predict exact numbers expected from specific countries or ethnic groups to the UK.
Whole-time Equivalent Staff
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the distribution of his Department's whole-time equivalent staff was, including the staff in agencies and other bodies reporting to him, in each Government office region and nation of the UK (a) in 1996 and (b) at the most recent available period. [90470]
Mr. Blunkett: Home Office staff figures in each region and nation of the UK are published in "Civil Service Statistics" year on year and placed in the Library.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Departmental Performance Report
Tony Wright: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when her Department's autumn performance report for 2002 will be published. [93154]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave to the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs (Mr. Flight) on 20 January 2003, Official Report, column 200W.
Grandchildren (Access)
Mr. Wray: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what rights grandparents have regarding access to their grandchildren. [93549]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Children Act 1989 requires that the court's paramount consideration must be the welfare of the child. Judges are guided by a list of factors set out in section 1(3) of the Act, known as the 'welfare checklist'. The court has the discretion to take into consideration all the facts and circumstances of the individual case when deciding any question concerning the child, including issues of contact and residence.
Any person (including grandparents) may, provided that the permission of the court is obtained, apply to the court for an order for residence or contact with a child. This requirement is designed as an early filter for those applications the court feels would not to be in the best interests of the child. Experience suggests that grandparents (or other interested relatives) do not
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usually experience difficulty in obtaining permission where their application is motivated by a genuine concern for the child.
Mr. Wray: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proposals she has to ensure that grandparents have increased legal rights of access to their grandchildren; and what other rights grandparents have in the event of family breakdown. [93550]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The current requirement is for grandparents to obtain the leave of the court to issue an application for contact with grandchildren. Experience has shown that grandparents, or wider family members, do not usually experience difficulty in obtaining leave when the application is motivated by genuine concern for the child. Consequently, there are no plans to amend the Children Act 1989. In the event of a family dispute, any person, including grandparents, with a contact order can apply to the court to determine the implementation or variation of the existing order.
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