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13 May 2003 : Column 208W—continued
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is his policy to refuse applications for asylum from people recently engaged in hostilities against British forces. [107666]
Beverley Hughes: There is currently a hold on deciding all asylum claims from Iraqis. However, there is no question of people recently engaged in hostilities against British forces being granted asylum or Humanitarian Protection.
Despite the hold, all Iraqi asylum applicants are fingerprinted and checked against the Immigration Service Warnings Index computer system. As part of the
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initial screening process all claimants are interviewed comprehensively about the routes and methods employed to reach the UK.
Any cases giving rise to security concerns are immediately referred to the appropriate agencies.
When decision-making is resumed, all claims will be considered on their individual merits against the circumstances which then apply in Iraq. But anyone who commits a war crime or is guilty of terrorist acts will be denied asylum, as the Refugee Convention requires. So, too, will anyone committing a serious non-political crime before arrival in the UK.
In addition, any other person whether asylum seeker or refugee who poses a threat to national security will be denied the protection of the Refugee Convention.
It will not be possible to establish a claim for asylum simply on the basis of having been a Ba'ath Party official, of having supported Saddam Hussein or having been forced to join the party or fight against UK/US troops.
We do not expect Iraqis to face persecution following its liberation. We therefore envisage the progressive return of Iraqis to their country now that large scale combat operations are over. They will have an important role to play in rebuilding Iraq's economy and civic society.
Arrangements will be made for senior officers to consider any claims raising security concerns, including any evidence of having fought against UK/US troops, or where anything other than outright refusal is anticipated.
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are planned to reduce the number of asylum seekers who become unaccounted for after entering the country. [111297]
Beverley Hughes: As part of the initial screening process asylum seekers are required to provide proof of residence at a particular address and are issued with an Application Registration Card (ARC) containing their details and fingerprints. The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) maintains databases containing the information supplied, which is also recorded in the individual Home Office file. For those subject to a reporting regime, place of residence is verified during the reporting event. Measures are now in place to increase the numbers of asylum seekers subject to reporting conditions, which will reduce the numbers absconding. All applicants, and their representatives, are told of their obligation to notify the Home Office of any subsequent change of address.
The Immigration Service has eight designated reporting centres to assist in managing reporting regimes and, in addition, a person may be required to report to a police station near their address. Alongside these measures systems are in place to track and monitor all failed asylum seekers.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unaccompanied young people under 16 seeking asylum have been allowed into the United Kingdom in each of the last three years. [112198]
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Beverley Hughes: Reliable information on the entry routes of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC), including when UASCs first enter the United Kingdom, is not available.
The available information on applications from unaccompanied asylum seeking children is given in the table. However this data relates to applicants aged 17 or under.
| Total | Applied at port | Applied in country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000(25) | 2,735 | 1,395 | 1,340 |
| 2001(25),(26) | 3,470 | 1,645 | 1,820 |
| 2002(26),(27) | 5,945 | 1,220 | 4,725 |
(22) Figures are rounded to the nearest 5.
(23) Unaccompanied at point of arrival, and not known to be joining a close relative in the United Kingdom.
(24) Figures exclude age dispute cases reported by A-CID.
(25) Figures exclude cases lodged at Local Enforcement Offices and Postal Applications.
(26) Provisional figures.
(27) Figure not comparable to manual count data previous to 2002, which excluded LEO and Postal applications which are now reported by A-CID.
Indicative information for 2002 suggests that of the 5,945 unaccompanied asylum seeking children, under 40 per cent. of the total, are aged under 16. Comparable data for previous years for the proportion of UASCs who were aged under 16 is unavailable and could be produced only by incurring disproportional costs.
Information on asylum applications from unaccompanied asylum seeking children is published annually in the statistical bulletin "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom", a copy of which is available in the Library, and from the RDS website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those seeking asylum in the UK from Kosovo have returned since the arrest of Slobodan Milosevic; and if he will make a statement. [112243]
Beverley Hughes: I regret that information on the number of asylum applicants who have returned to Kosovo since the arrest of Slobodan Milosevic at the end of March 2001 is not available.
Information on the number of principal asylum applicants from the countries of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) who were removed from the UK between April 2001 and September 2002 (the latest date for which nationality data are available) is given in the table. FRY is comprised of Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro, but the majority of FRY applications are thought to be from Kosovars.
| Q2 2001 | 455 |
| Q3 2001 | 445 |
| Q4 2001 | 560 |
| Q1 2002 | 500 |
| Q2 2002 | 585 |
| Q3 2002 | 605 |
| Total | 3,155 |
(28) Provisional estimated data, subject to change.
(29) Includes persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration.
(30) Nationality does not necessarily indicate the country to which someone was removed.Data rounded to the nearest five.
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Cabinet Office Strategy
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on his Department's progress in achieving the recommendations of the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit's report "Private Action, Public Benefit"; [111647]
- (2) what plans there are to create a new public benefit test to determine an organisation's eligibility for charitable status. [111648]
Beverley Hughes: The Strategy Unit report is a report to Government and does not represent settled Government policy. Home Office officials are currently completing their analysis of the responses to those recommendations for which the Home Office has responsibility. It is the Government's intention to publish in the summer a summary of the responses to the consultation and an indication of the Government's view as to the way forward on the implementation of the recommendations, including those relating to public benefit.
Where recommendations have commanded general support and do not require legislation, we aim to move as quickly as possible to implement them, although some may first need further policy development work.
However, legislation would be needed to give effect to many of the recommendations. The Home Secretary has given a commitment to publish a draft charities Bill as soon as possible.
Cannabis
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been arrested for possession of cannabis in the last 12 months. [112143]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: Information on arrests for specific (a) types of drug offence and (b) specific types of drugs is not collated centrally. However, the number of people apprehended or summonsed by the police in England and Wales in 2000 for unlawful possession of cannabis is 39,121. This is the latest figure available at the current time, and is from the Home Office Court Appearances Database.
Charities
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidelines are in place to determine which charities and charitable organisations will receive direct funding from central and local government. [111546]
Beverley Hughes: There are no central Government guidelines to determine which charities and charitable organisations will receive direct funding from central and local government. Nor are there plans to develop
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any as it would be inappropriate to do so. Each individual central Government Department and local authority, develops their own funding programmes to pay for service provision and/or support charitable activities in line with their objectives and such regulations as are set out to guide all public spending.
Government Accounting provides advice to Departments on accounting and procurement practice. This is complemented by guidance from the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). Home Office officials are working with officials from both the Treasury and the OGC to review existing guidance to ensure there are no unnecessary barriers to voluntary and community sector involvement in delivering public services.
Government have published a Funding Code under the Compact on relations between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector to encourage good practice. This code is due to be reviewed shortly.
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 2 April 2003, Official Report, column 750W, if his Department will publish an updated version of Central Government Funding of Voluntary and Community Organisations 1982–83 to 1999–2000: ISBN 1 84082 636–3. [111584]
Beverley Hughes: Yes. We plan to announce publication of the latest research into central Government funding of voluntary and community organisations at the beginning of the next parliamentary Session.
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which charities and charitable organisations provide public services (a) alongside and (b) additional to those provided by (i) central and (ii) local government. [111547]
Beverley Hughes: There is no centrally held data on the charities and charitable organisations, which provide public services either alongside or in addition to services provided by central and local government. However, the Treasury Cross Cutting Review on 'The Role of the Voluntary and Community Sector in Service Delivery' published in September 2001, considered Government flows of funding—as grants and/or contracts—to the voluntary and community sector. On the basis of research conducted by the Home Office, it is estimated that, in 2000–01, central Government Departments and their associated agencies/non-departmental public bodies provided funding spent in excess of £1.8 billion through voluntary and community organisations in England. In the same year, local authorities are estimated to have spent in excess of £1.1 billion through voluntary and community organisations in England.
The Treasury report recommends that a unified system of data collection is put in place by April 2006.
Jim Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans the review of the Charity Commission has to give additional assistance to trustees of charities in fulfilling their obligations. [111544]
Beverley Hughes: The Strategy Unit Report, Private Action, Public Benefit set out a package of recommendations to modernise charity law, to improve
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the range of legal forms available to charities and social enterprises, to develop greater accountability and transparency in the voluntary and community sector and to ensure independent, open and proportionate regulation of the sector.
The Charity Commission, as the regulator of charities, has responsibility at present for providing a wide range of advice to charity trustees. The Strategy Unit report recommends that the Charity Commission's advisory role should be defined in statute to give a clearer focus on regulatory issues. Implementation of the recommendation would empower the Charity Commission to concentrate its resources more on providing advice to trustees to enable them to comply with their responsibilities under charity and trust law.
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