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3 Jun 2003 : Column 143W—continued

Dangerous Driving

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted for causing death by dangerous driving in 2002; and what the average length of the sentence imposed was. [113362]

Paul Goggins: Information for 2001 (latest available) is given in the table. Figures for 2002 are due to be published at the end of this year.

Number of persons⁽¹⁷⁾ prosecuted at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts for the offence of 'causing death by dangerous driving⁽¹⁸⁾ by result, England and Wales 2001

Number of persons proceeded against in the magistrates' court	272
Total persons found guilty at all courts	227
Of which given immediate custody(19)	193
Average custodial sentence length (months)	39.0

⁽¹⁷⁾ Based on principal offence only. (A defendant is recorded only once for each set of court proceedings against the principal offence involved).

⁽¹⁸⁾ An offence under the Road Traffic Act 1999, sec. 1 as amended by the Road Traffic Act 1991, sec. 1.

⁽¹⁹⁾ Included unsuspended imprisonment, detention in a young offender institution, detention and training orders, and at the Crown Court secs 90–92 of the powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.

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Deportations

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people of Chechen origin were deported from the UK to the Russian Federation in the last 12 months for which figures are available; to which destinations they were sent; and how many were sent to each destination; [116319]

(2) how many people were deported from the UK to the Russian Federation in the last 12 months for which figures are available; to which destinations they were sent; and how many were sent to each destination. [116318]

Beverley Hughes: Information on the number of people deported from the United Kingdom to the Russian Federation, including those of Chechen origin, and on the destinations to which they were deported, is not available except by examination of individual case files which would incur disproportionate cost.

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who have been deported from the UK in each of the last three years have returned to the UK within (a) one month and (b) one year. [116346]

Beverley Hughes: Information on the number of people who, having been removed from the United Kingdom, subsequently returned is not available.

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who are married to UK citizens have been deported from the UK in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [116347]

Beverley Hughes: Information on the number of people removed from the United Kingdom who are married to United Kingdom citizens is not available except by examination of individual case files, this would be at disproportionate cost.

Deportations are a specific subset of removals alongside persons subject to administrative removal, removal due to illegal entry action or those refused entry at port and subsequently removed.

Illegal Entrants

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out the steps that he has taken (a) to detect illegal entry at British ports and (b) to deter illegal entrants at French and Belgian ports in the last three years. [115316]

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Beverley Hughes [holding answer 22 May 2003]: A number of measures have been introduced over the period in question to detect and deter illegal entrants both in the UK and at ports abroad. These have included:

Changing the law on people smuggling (by means of the Immigration & Asylum Act 1999), increasing the maximum penalty for facilitating illegal entry to 14 years;


Introducing (and subsequently amending) civil penalty provisions in order to encourage road hauliers to take appropriate measures to prevent unauthorised persons travelling to the UK in their vehicles. Combined with the potential liability of sea carriers to carriers' liability charges the Civil Penalty has also encouraged port authorities and sea carriers to take measures to improve their security, including the searching of vehicles;


Obtaining a Memorandum of Understanding with the French and Belgian authorities to further the exchange of intelligence and joint working to disrupt the flows of illegal immigrants;


Securing a similar agreement with the French which has ensured close collaboration in the fight against cross channel organised immigration crime;


Co-ordinating all activity against people smugglers through a multi-agency task force, which brings together the combined expertise of the National Crime Squad, National Criminal Intelligence Service, Immigration Service, police forces, the intelligence community and a range of government departments;


Deploying new detection technology, including gamma x-ray scanners at Dover;


Securing agreement with the French government for the deployment at Calais of new detection equipment, including thermal imaging and acoustic sensors to help detect people illegally concealed in vehicles and containers and prevent them embarking for the United Kingdom;


Obtaining the agreement of the French authorities for the closure of the Sangatte Refugee Centre;


Concluding agreements with the governments of France and Belgium for the deployment of the new detection technology at other ports in northern continental Europe;


Establishing juxtaposed immigration controls operated by the UK and French authorities at Waterloo and Coquelles, later extended to Paris and Lille;


Negotiating a Treaty with the French authorities to extend juxtaposed controls to other French ports, including Calais;


Agreeing with the Belgian authorities and carrying out pre-clearance operations at Brussels, which have proved highly successful in denying the passage of possible illegals to the United Kingdom.

These measures have all been implemented as part of an over-arching strategy to develop a more intelligence led control and to concentrate on intake reduction by preventing potential illegal entrants from travelling to the UK.

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to renegotiate the bilateral agreement with France concerning illegal immigrants which lapsed in 1997. [115310]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 22 May 2003]: The 1995 Anglo-French 'Gentleman's Agreement' continues to apply to illegal entrants who arrive from France and did not lapse in 1997. It was the agreement's application to asylum seekers that ceased in that year, upon entry into force of the Dublin Convention, as had always been agreed by both parties.

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It is generally accepted that the Dublin Convention has not worked as well as had been hoped. However, it is to be replaced by the Dublin II Regulation in September this year. This instrument represents a notable improvement on the existing asylum transfer arrangements and encourages Member States to arrange bilateral agreements in order to facilitate the mechanism.

Flanked by the Eurodac fingerprint database, which is already operational, the UK will be able to effect the return of a greater number of asylum seekers to the Member States most responsible for their presence on EU territory.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the responsibilities are of the Management of Detained Casework Unit within the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in Leeds; what its objectives are for the coming 12 months; and whether it processes the cases of all those detained by the Immigration Service. [115509]

Beverley Hughes: The Management of Detained Cases Unit (MODCU) has the following broad responsibilities:

To review at 28 days, and monthly thereafter, the matter of detention in cases detained by the Immigration Service under paragraph 16 of Schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971.


To complete casework actions on cases involving substantive asylum claimants who have entered long-term detention, and to progress those cases whereappeal rights have been exhausted towards removal from the United Kingdom.


To allocate removal centre beds for family detention, and to closely monitor these cases.

Cases may become the responsibility of MODCU at various stages in the process, but with a few exceptions MODCU is generally concerned only with those cases where removal cannot be effected quickly.

MODCU does not process the cases of all those detained by the Immigration Service. For example, cases that can be resolved following relatively short periods of detention remain the responsibility of the ports or local enforcement offices. Cases of those foreign nationals who have been convicted by the courts after committing criminal offences are processed by the Criminal Casework Team (CCT), which is based in Croydon.

MODCU's objectives for the year 2003–04 are to:

develop strategies for optimum use of the removal estate;


prioritise cases entering long-term detention, allocate removal centre space for family removals, and manage detained family cases;


remove barriers to removal in long-term detained asylum


cases; and


review the detention of those cases held under paragraph 16 of Schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which port, enforcement office, casework directorate, or similar unit within the Immigration and Nationality Directorate is responsible for authorising the discharge, when appropriate, of persons subject to immigration control from (a) Her Majesty's Prison, Liverpool and (b) prisons in general;

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and what the (i) telephone and (ii) fax numbers are that legal representatives of those detained should use in order to contact the units concerned. [115510]

Beverley Hughes: Foreign nationals who have been convicted of a criminal offence and who are subject to deportation action following their conviction(s) are dealt with by the Criminal Casework Team in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND). To be subject to deportation action the Secretary of State would have either acted on a court's recommendation or decided that deportation would be conducive to the public good.

In these cases it would be the Criminal Casework Teamin IND who would consider whether the subject should be detained under immigration powers beyond the end of the custodial sentence. When a subject is to be detained he/she is automatically sent a reasons for detention letter from the above team giving the reasons for any continued detention. This clearly states Criminal Casework Team's address, telephone and fax number.

Criminal Casework Team

4th Floor (West)

Block B

Whitgift Centre

CROYDON CR9 1AT

Telephone Hotline: [phone]


Fax: [phone]

In cases where the subject is held in prison purely on immigration grounds either as an overstayer, illegal entrant or as a Port case who are not subject to deportation action the subject's continued detention would be considered by the Local Enforcement Office (LEO) that detained them up to 28 days after the initial detention. The case is then normally passed to the Management of Detained Cases Unit (MODCU) who continue monitoring detention.

MODCU

Waterside Court

Kirkstall Road

LEEDS

WEST YORKSHIRE

LS42QB

Telephone Number: 0113 386 5780


Fax: [phone]

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