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28 Apr 2003 : Column 64W—continued
Drugs (Prisons)
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of mandatory drugs testing in prison in reducing the consumption of drugs other than cannabis; and if he will make a statement. [107658]
Hilary Benn: It is difficult to determine the extent to which any one of a package of supply reduction measures alone has an impact on drug misuse in prisons. Overall, mandatory drug testing (MDT) figures show the greatest decline to be in the use of cannabis. A research study on the effectiveness of the MDT programme is being undertaken and the findings are due to be published in June 2003.
Employment Relations Act
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in his Department
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have taken time off from work in order to attend to domestic incidents as provided for by the Employment Relations Act 1999. [108356]
Mr. Blunkett: Since 1990, responsibility for authorising and monitoring special leave granted for domestic reasons has been devolved to individual Heads of Units. Information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Immigration and Asylum
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of 19 March, Official Report, column 291WH, when he will respond in writing to points raised during the Westminster Hall adjournment debate. [109028]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 14 April 2003]: I wrote to the hon. Member on 9 April 2003.
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were admitted to the UK pursuant to section 4(1) of the Immigration Act 1971 without restriction on their employment during 2002. [109105]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 14 April 2003]: The main route of entry into the UK for employment is the work permit scheme. Work permit holders are admitted to take the employment specified in their work permit, although they can apply for a new work permit if there is a change of employment. The dependants of work permit holders are admitted to the UK without restriction on their employment.
The latest available information relates to 2001 when 81,100 work permit holders and 27,800 dependants of work permit holders were admitted to the UK pursuant to Section 4( 1) of the Immigration Act 1971.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will revise the Immigration Rules to take account of (a) the status of humanitarian protection and (b) changes to the rules regarding entry clearance on the basis of marriage. [108217]
Beverley Hughes: We fully intend to incorporate Humanitarian Protection in the Immigration Rules.
At the moment, Humanitarian Protection is granted under the same powers in the 1971 Act as Discretionary Leave. However, it is our intention to include Humanitarian Protection in the rules as soon as possible.
A Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules incorporating the changes to the marriage rules was laid before Parliament on 31 March and came into effect on 1 April.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if discretionary leave to remain in the UK will be granted to persons where asylum claims have been refused before 1 April, but who cannot be removed from the UK. [108219]
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Beverley Hughes: Under the policy announced on 1 April, discretionary leave will only be granted to a person who is able to demonstrate a genuine need for leave to remain in the United Kingdom for one of a limited number of reasons.
It is our policy not to grant a person discretionary leave simply because they cannot be removed from the United Kingdom. The great majority of failed asylum seekers can reasonably be expected to return to their countries voluntarily even if they cannot immediately be removed.
Mrs. Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 25 March 2003, to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald), Official Report, column 152W, on the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, what proportion of the total expenditure incurred by the National Asylum Support Service was spent on (a) staff pay, (b) staff related expenditure, IT and accommodation, (c) payments of subsistence support to asylum seekers, (d) payments for asylum seekers' accommodation, (e) grants to the receptions' assistant agencies and (f) other expenditure, in each of the last three years. [106807]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 3 April 2003]: Actual expenditure for the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) excluding capital and cost of capital for 2000–01 and 2001–02 is as follows:
| 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | (£million) | (£million) | |
| NASS total expenditure of which: | 783 | 1,082 | (14) |
| Staff Pay | 0 | 16 | |
| Non pay | 3 | 3 | |
| Grants | 23 | 17 | |
| Asylum support payments | 747 | 1,046 |
(14) Final expenditure figures for 2002–03 are not yet available.
Operation Ore
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what categories of public figures are being investigated as part of Operation Ore. [107199]
Hilary Benn: Individuals who are being investigated as a result of Operation Ore come from a wide range of professions, and it is not appropriate for me to provide further details of what remain on-going investigations. Investigations to date have sought to prioritise suspects who come from sensitive professions such as those who work with children/vulnerable people, in positions of authority, as well as those on the sex offenders register or those under investigation for similar crimes.
Parental Leave
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in his Department have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive since it came into force. [108408]
Mr. Blunkett: Parental leave is available to all Home Office staff as one of a number of policies designed to help staff balance their work and home life. These include paid and unpaid maternity and adoption leave, paid paternity leave, career breaks, paid and unpaid
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special leave and a range of flexible working patterns. It is an unpaid entitlement and can be taken to look after a child or make arrangements for the child's welfare.
Data on staff who take parental leave is recorded as unpaid leave on the Home Office personnel system. It is not possible to differentiate between parental leave and unpaid leave taken for other reasons. For this reason the number of staff who have applied for parental leave to date cannot be included except at disproportionate cost.
The requirement to monitor different types of leave has been identified as part of the current design phase of the new Home Office personnel system.
Police Training (Terrorist Attacks)
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what training has been given in the last year to police officers to deal with a (a) chemical, (b) biological, (c) nuclear and (d) conventional terrorist attack; [105100]
- (2) what funding has been allocated in each year since 1992 to training police officers in dealing with the aftermath of terrorist attacks, broken down by constabulary. [105101]
Mr. Blunkett: The ability of police forces to respond to a terrorist attack involving the use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) materials is being strengthened through the increased provision of specialist police training at the Police National CBRN Centre. Home Office funding is being made available to meet the full running and equipment costs involved to provide training for the first responders, senior commanders and specialist officers who would respond to a CBRN incident. This is in line with the Association of Chief Police Officers desired level of training to ensure that police forces nationally have the necessary resilience to deal with a CBRN incident. The total number CBRN trained officers to date is approximately 3,400 with 2,000 of these having been trained by the PNCBRNC since August 2002. In addition to the training being provided by the Police National CBRN Centre and in force training carried out by the Metropolitan Police Service and Sussex Police, some police forces have also undertaken local CBRN awareness seminars for all their staff.
The Home Office National Counter-Terrorist Exercise Programme is centred on three annual large-scale live exercises with police forces, and other Government Departments, agencies and the military throughout the UK to test counter terrorist contingency plans. In addition between 12 and 15 table top exercises take place per year with police forces nationally, which cover a range of terrorist scenarios.
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