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3 Mar 2003 : Column 820W—continued

Crime Indicators

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the key performance indicators used by his Department to measure crime. [99346]

Mr. Denham [holding answer 26 February 2003]: The Home Office targets for the period April 2003 to March 2006 were published in the Home Office Targets Delivery Report on 13 February 2003.

The target relating specifically to crime is as follows: Reduce crime and the fear of crime; improve performance overall, including the gap between the highest crime, Crime Disorder and Reduction Partnership Areas and the best comparable areas; and reduce:

vehicle crime by 30 per cent. from 1998–99 to 2004;

domestic burglary by 25 per cent. from 1998–99 to 2005;

robbery in 10 Street Crime Initiative areas by 14 per cent. from 1999–2000 to 2005;

and maintain that level.

A report on progress against the Department's crime targets set in 2000 was published in the same document.

Fylingdales

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he plans to give additional support to North Yorkshire police as a result of the upgrading of the Fylingdales radar station. [97773]

Mr. Denham: Since 11 September, police forces have been able to bid for additional funding for various counter terrorist activities, including the protection of vulnerable sites. Given the nature of the funding, publicity is not being given to the activities it covers or what has been allocated to individual forces.

HMP/YOI Holloway

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he next plans to visit HMP/YOI Holloway; and if he will make a statement. [100231]

Mr. Blunkett: My hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central, the Minister for Prisons, (Hilary Benn) visited Holloway on 23 September last year. My ministerial colleagues and I have an extensive programme of prison visits. I have recently indicated to the Governor of Holloway that I intend to visit that prison in the course of the next few months.

Human Trafficking

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are in place to encourage victims of human trafficking to collaborate with Home Office immigration and the appropriate law enforcement agencies; and if he will make a statement. [99444]

Beverley Hughes: The White Paper "Secure Borders, Safe Haven: integration with diversity within modern Britain"—published in February 2002—sets out our general proposals for assisting the victims of trafficking.

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We are developing a pilot scheme under which victims of trafficking who are willing to come forward to the authorities and help law enforcement against organised criminals will be offered protection and a range of support services such as counselling and health checks in safe accommodation

We will also consider, in the light of individual circumstances, whether it would be appropriate to allow such victims who have co-operated to remain here. Where they are to return home, we will assist them to do so, providing them with initial counselling, ensuring that they have suitable accommodation to return to, and providing help to enable them to re-integrate into their own community and find employment.

We are in discussion with the voluntary sector about the provision of these services.

We plan to make an announcement about the start of the pilot shortly.

Iraq

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqi nationals from (a) the area of Iraq controlled by Saddam Hussein and (b) the Kurdish autonomous area have applied for asylum in the United Kingdom in each of the last 12 months. [100028]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 28 February 2003]: 14,940 asylum applications were lodged by Iraqi nationals in 2002 (excluding dependants). Asylum applications are recorded by nationality only and therefore it is not possible to say how many of the applicants originated from particular areas within Iraq. The number of those who applied by the claimed region of origin would therefore only be available by examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost. Information on the region from which applicants claim to originate may not be reliable as some applicants may falsely claim to come from areas where there is conflict.

Information on asylum applications is published quarterly. The next publication will cover the first quarter of 2003, and will be available from 30 May 2003 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate web site at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1. html.

Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what preparations he has made for the internment of Iraqi nationals in the event of a war with Iraq. [99691]

Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 27 February 2003]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Salisbury (Robert Key) on 30 January 2003, Official Report, column 1041W.

Leave to Remain

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Polish nationals, married to UK citizens, have applied for leave to remain in the UK in each of the last 12 months. [99986]

Beverley Hughes: The latest available statistics are given in the following table.

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The information relates to grants of leave to remain on the basis of marriage to a British citizen in each month in 2001. Data for 2002 will be published later this year.

Information on the number of applications lodged or the number of such applications which have been refused are not currently available.

Nationals of Poland granted leave to remain⁽¹³⁾ on the basis of marriage to a British citizen, by month, 2001

January	25
February	25
March	30
April	30
May	35
June	30
July	25
August	30
September	30
October	30
November	15
December	10
Total	315

⁽¹³⁾ Excludes the outcome of appeals.

Data rounded to the nearest 5

Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost of the Office of the Immigration Services Commission in 2002–03 to (a) the Home Office and (b) other public bodies; and how many (i) public bodies, (ii) private bodies and (iii) private individuals are (A) registered with and (B) registered exempt from registration with the OISC. [98811]

Beverley Hughes: The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) is solely funded by Home Office grant-in-aid and was allocated £3,442,466 for 2002–03.

As of 25 February 2003, the OISC had registered 206 immigration advisers acting for profit and exempted 992 acting not for profit. All those registered are private bodies, of which 32 are individuals. Of those exempted, eight are public bodies and the remainder are private bodies (for example charities and voluntary groups) of which six are individuals.

Passport Agency

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each of the last 12 months the average time a passport application took to be processed by the UK Passport Agency; and if he will make a statement. [98721]

Beverley Hughes: During the last 12 months the United Kingdom Passport Service (UKPS) has delivered passports effectively and securely.

Despite higher than anticipated demand levels for part of the year, UKPS maintained fully satisfactory turnaround times for the delivery of passports. The breakdown of average passport turnaround times on a month by month basis from February 2002 until January 2003 is as follows.

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Month	Days
February	3.36
March	3.77
April	3.86
May	4.15
June	4.53
July	4.80
August	5.12
September	3.89
October	3.45
November	3.09
December	2.87
January	3.01

These figures are calculated from the date of the mailbag in which the application is received and ending on the date the passport is printed. In this operational year (April 2002 to March 2003), UKPS is processing 99.46 per cent. of all straight-forward properly completed applications within 10 days.

Police

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) police support staff there were in England in each year from 1980–81 to 2003–04 (planned); and if he will make a statement. [99807]

Mr. Denham: Information about the number of police officers and civilian staff for each force can be found in the Annual Reports of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary until 1995–96. Thereafter the data can be found in Home Office Statistical Bulletins on police strength in England and Wales from March 1998 until March 2002, copies of which are in the Library.

Figures for March 2003 are not yet available. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has set a target for there to be 130,000 officers by March 2003 and 132,500 officers in 2004, but he has not set targets for numbers of civilian staff. Forces are on track to achieve the targets for police officer numbers.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the increase in police numbers is in 2003–04, broken down by (a) Crime Fighting Fund and (b) locally funded additional officers; and if he will make a statement. [99902]

Mr. Denham: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has set a target for there to be 132,500 officers in 2004.

Apart from ring-fenced provision for a particular purpose, such as the Crime Fighting Fund, decisions about police budgets and the allocation of resources, including planned numbers of officers, are matters for Police Authorities and Chief Officers. Details of force plans for locally funded increases in strength are not collected centrally.

Under the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) recruitment initiative police forces in England and Wales have been allocated 9,000 recruits over and above the forces' previous recruitment plans for the three years to March 2003. Funding for these officers will continue in 2003–04.

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The CFF will continue in 2003–04 and we will fund 75 per cent. of the cost of new recruits through CFF rather than 100 per cent. as in the past three years. Funding should be sufficient for forces to recruit a further 650 police officers through this fund.

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