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13 May 2003 : Column 213W—continued
Civil Service (People with Disabilities)
Mr. John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in meeting targets for the proportion of people with disabilities in senior posts in the Department. [110534]
Mr. Blunkett: The Home Office has adopted the corporate civil service target that staff with disabilities should comprise three per cent of the Senior Civil Service (SCS) by 2005. At present the department has no known staff with disabilities at that level but arrangements are in place to support people who have disabilities when they apply for jobs in the Home Office, and to support such staff once appointed in their development and progression. Representation of staff with disabilities has risen at junior and middle management levels and it is hoped that this will feed through into more senior levels including the SCS. The department operates a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates with disabilities applying for external and internal vacancies, provided they meet minimum post requirements. Where necessary reasonable adjustments are made and special equipment provided for staff with disabilities, both at the workplace and in selection and promotion procedures, including selection for the department's Intensive Development and Fast-track Nomination schemes. The Home Office is currently engaged in external recruitment to senior grades and is taking steps to draw this to the attention of disability groups. The department participates in the Cabinet Office Disability Bursary Scheme, designed for staff with potential for early promotion to senior levels, the Cabinet Office summer placement scheme for disabled graduates and the Cabinet Office-chaired Disability Working Group, which is examining ways of raising the representation of people with disabilities in the SCS.
There is evidence, from a Home Office staff survey in 2001, of a significant gap between the numbers of staff who declare disability and the actual position. Against this background, the department is exploring ways of persuading staff of the value of declaring their disability. The department has facilitated and resourced the establishment of the Home Office Disability Support Network (HODS), to provide support and encouragement to staff with disabilities and advice to the department about their needs. The membership of HODS has recently risen to 350.
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The department is working with HODS to raise awareness and improve understanding of disability issues across the office, and of the potential of disabled staff to rise to senior levels. A number of events and activities are being planned as part of the European Year for Disabled People to raise the profile of disability in the department.
Community-based Organisations
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recommendations have been issued to community foundations on better working with independent grant making trusts; and who he consulted when drafting them. [111693]
Beverley Hughes: I can confirm that there have been no recommendations issued to community foundations on better working with independent grant making trusts. Community Foundations operate as independent organisations and, as such, it is not for government to issue guidance on how they should operate.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice has been issued and what is being done (a) centrally and (b) regionally as part of the Home Office's work in supporting grass roots organisations to (i) develop coherence and a distinctive identity for specific grant making programmes, (ii) foster productive networking, learning and knowledge transfer among partner organisations and (iii) support the dual role of community-based organisations as local service providers and independent voices, with a wide advocacy role. [111694]
Beverley Hughes: The Compact on Relations between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) in England, published in November 1998, provides a framework of principles and undertakings, which should underpin the relationship between the Government and voluntary and community in England. The Compact is supported by four Codes of Good Practice covering: funding; consultation and policy appraisal; black and minority ethnic and community organisations; and volunteering. The Compact Code of Good Practice on Funding makes a number of recommendations that are designed to ensure coherence and clarity in Government funding programmes.
Fostering productive networking, learning and knowledge transfer among partner organisations is achieved in a variety of ways both nationally and regionally. The main mechanism is through the 18 regional voluntary sector networks consisting of a general and a black and minority ethnic network in each of the nine regions, which are funded by the Active Community Unit. The Regional Voluntary Sector Networks exist to increase the effectiveness of the VCS in each region, to unlock further funding at the regional level and to advocate effectively at the regional level. The networks, through their links to sub-regional and local networks, link grassroots organisations to key regional developments and network and learning opportunities.
In September 2002, the Treasury published "The Role of the Voluntary and Community Sector in Service Delivery: a cross cutting review". The Cross Cutting Review reaffirms the Government's commitment to
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ensuring that when the sector wishes to engage in service delivery there are no unnecessary barriers from both central and local Government. The Cross Cutting Review contains recommendations concerned with strengthening the sector, simplifying bureaucracy and getting the funding relationship between government and the sector right. It also recognises that if the expertise of the voluntary and community sector is to be used in the delivery of public services it is vital that the sector's right to independence is protected, separate to any funding relationship with Government that might exist.
Criminal Proceedings (EU)
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on the proposals set out in the European Commission Green Paper on Procedural Safeguards for Suspects and Defendants in Criminal Proceedings throughout the European Union (COM (2003) 75(01)); and if he will make a statement. [112154]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Government are considering the extent to which action at ED level on these matters is appropriate. The Green Paper published by the Commission does not contain firm proposals for action but rather identifies certain basic rights and poses a number of questions about the setting of minimum standards in these areas. The Government believe that any future proposals for EU measures should be based on the principles of mutual recognition and subsidiarity and assist the process of tackling cross-border crime by ensuring that suspects or defendants are not discriminated against when subject to criminal proceedings in another EU country.
Deportations
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were deported in 2002; and what the total cost to his Department was. [112130]
Beverley Hughes: Data on the number of people deported from the UK in 2002 and the total cost of deportations in that time are not available.
The latest published information on deportations shows that of the 49,135 people removed from the UK in 2001, 450 were removed as a result of deportation action.
Information on all those removed from the UK, including the number of deportations, will be published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin "Control of Immigration Statistics UK 2002" which is due to be published at the end of August, and will be available from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate web site at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
Entry Clearance
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions in each of the last three years he has overturned a decision to refuse entry. [112485]
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Beverley Hughes: Information on the number of decisions to refuse entry that have been overturned by the Home Office in each of the last three years is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case files. The available information relating to appeals determined by the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA) is given in the following table and shows that most appeals are dismissed.
| Outcome | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appeal category | Total dealt with | Allowed | Dismissed | (32)Withdrawn |
| All appeals | ||||
| 1999(33) | 28,610 | 7,630 | 17,350 | 3,630 |
| 2000(33) | 27,130 | 5,960 | 20,040 | 1,120 |
| 2001(31),(33) | 56,815 | 13,335 | 42,160 | 1,320 |
| Refusal of entry clearance(34) | ||||
| 1999(33) | 5,800 | 2,070 | 3,280 | 450 |
| 2000(33) | 6,650 | 2,360 | 3,690 | 600 |
| 2001(31),(33) | 10,755 | 4,415 | 5,910 | 430 |
| Refusal of Asylum | ||||
| 1999(33) | 19,460 | 5,280 | 11,130 | 3,050 |
| 2000(33) | 19,400 | 3,340 | 15,580 | 480 |
| 2001(31),(33) | 43,415 | 8,155 | 34,440 | 825 |
| 2002(31),(33) | 64,405 | 13,875 | 48,845 | 1,685 |
| Other non-asylum(35) | ||||
| 1999(33) | 3,350 | 280 | 2,940 | 130 |
| 2000(33) | 1,080 | 260 | 770 | 40 |
| 2001(31),(33) | 2,640 | 765 | 1,810 | 65 |
(31) Figures rounded to the nearest 10 except figures for 2001 and 2002 which are rounded to the nearest five.
(32) Includes cases where the appellant withdrew the appeal because the Home Office had conceded the case, as well those where the appellant decided not to pursue the appeal further.
(33) Figures are estimates based on data supplied from the Lord Chancellor's Department and the Presenting Officers Unit in the Home Office.
(34) Including refusal of certificate of entitlement.
(35) After-entry into United Kingdom.
Information on non-asylum appeals are published regularly in the Command Paper Control of Immigration Statistics, a copy of which is available in the Library. It is planned that information relating to non-asylum appeal determined in 2002 will be published at the end of November 2003.
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