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11 Jun 2003 : Column 945W—continued
Detective Chief Superintendent Ellie Baker
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) on what dates meetings took place between the West Midlands police and the Crown Prosecution Service investigating the allegations against Detective Chief Superintendent Ellie Baker; [115696]
- (2) if he will make a statement on the reasons for the time taken to investigate the allegations against Detective Chief Superintendent Ellie Baker of the West Midlands Constabulary; and how much it cost to investigate the allegations against her. [115697]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The West Midlands police inform me that the involvement of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), the appointment of the metropolitan police service (MPS) to conclude the investigation and consideration of the matter by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are all factors which have contributed to the time taken in the investigation. Once the CPS determined that no criminal proceedings should be instigated, further delays have arisen through the need to consider whether DCS Baker should face misconduct proceedings and the processes of disclosure of relevant information and subsequent interviews that this required. Further written representations submitted by DCS Baker in May are currently under consideration by the PCA before they make their recommendations on whether DCS Baker should face misconduct proceedings.
The West Midlands police advise me that a detailed account of the costs of the investigation is not available. However, they advise that a conservative estimate of the cost of the investigation so far would be in the region of £150,000.
I am further advised that the West Midlands police met the CPS on 17, 23 and 30 October 2002 before the matter was voluntarily referred to the PCA and the MPS were appointed to oversee the investigation. A West Midlands police representative also attended a meeting between the MPS and the CPS in January 2003 when it was determined that there would be no criminal proceedings against DCS Baker.
Dungavel Detention Centre
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the race relations policy that has been approved for Dungavel Detention Centre. [118610]
Beverley Hughes: I shall arrange for copies of the race relations policy for Dungavel House Immigration Removal Centre to be placed in the Library.
Hotel Accommodation
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the amount spent by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies on hotel accommodation (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad for (A) Ministers, (B) staff and (C) others, and if he will list the average cost per hotel room, in each year since 1997. [117569]
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Mr. Blunkett: The detailed information requested is not held centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. All travel by Civil Servants within the Home Office is conducted in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code.
The Government publishes an annual report of Ministerial travel overseas. Which includes the costs of accommodation. The information sought in respect of accommodation within the United Kingdom is not held centrally. All travel is conducted in line with the requirements of the Ministerial Code.
International Organisation for Migration
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which countries have an International Organisation for Migration office; where are they located and what funding he provides to each office; how many individuals have been assisted to return to each country; and how many of them have received reintegration assistance. [117766]
Beverley Hughes: The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is an intergovernmental, and independent organisation that operates in more than 100 different countries. Full and detailed information regarding their activities and worldwide office locations is available on their internet website at www.iomlondon.org
Funding for IOM is commercially confidential and cannot be disclosed. I can however say that the Government of the United Kingdom, along with other United Nation member states, makes an assessed contribution towards the administration budget of the IOM's worldwide operation. IOM also operate, on behalf of the Home Office, an assisted voluntary return programme, which is co-financed by the European Refugee Fund.
Regarding the numbers of individuals who have been assisted to return to their country of origin and/or have received reintegration assistance:
Revised figures regarding persons who left the UK under Assisted Voluntary Returns (AVR) Programmes in 2002 are not yet available but will be published on the Home Office website later in the year in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2002". I can however provisionally say:
- 890 principal asylum applicants left the United Kingdom under AVR Programmes during 2002 and 980 during 2001.
In addition, 305 dependants of asylum seekers who left the UK under such programmes in 2002 and 230 in the period April to December 2001.
Data on dependants removed have only been collected since April 2001.
A nationality breakdown of this information is not available.
Reintegration assistance was introduced to the assisted voluntary return programme, from 2002, in support of the sustainability of return. This information is therefore not yet available.
Labour Party Conference
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will determine the
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application by Dorset police for the additional funding needed to finance the policing of the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth in 2003. [118211]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth [holding answer 9 June 2003]: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, informed the Chief Constable (Mrs. Jane Stichbury QPM) on 4 June that Dorset police would receive a special grant of £1.9 million as a contribution towards the additional cost of policing this years Labour Party Conference.
We have separately provided in the Dorset Police Authority's capital allocation for 2003–04 a further £0.2 million for new CCTV equipment for party conferences. The total funding we are providing in 2003–04 is therefore £2.1 million.
Partnership Agreements
Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to conclude a partnership agreement with the trade unions representing the staff in his Department. [117455]
Mr. Blunkett: I can confirm that it is our intention to seek to work in partnership with recognised unions. In accordance with Cabinet Office guidance about the benefits of partnership working and related best practice different areas of the Home Office Group have decided for themselves how to develop their own partnership working arrangements.
- A "voluntary" agreement between the Prison Service and the Prison Services Association/Prison Governors Association providing, among other things, the general principles for resolving disputes came into effect in May 2001.
The Passport and Records Agency signed a partnership agreement with the Public and Commercial Services Union in May 2002.
The Forensic Science Service has met Prospect and PCS to discuss the concept of partnership. Further discussions are planned.
The National Probation Directorate (NPD) have a joint Staff Consultative Committee and a National Health and Safety Forum with the National Association of Probation Officers, Unison and GMB. NPD will be meeting with their three recognised unions in July to agree a protocol on how they will work together.
Within the Non-Agency Home Office discussions are taking place with FDA, PCS and Prospect about the terms of a draft Industrial Relations Agreement.
The Immigration and Nationality Directorate and the Immigration Service Union are discussing the terms of a draft "Working Together" agreement.
Passports
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of whether to use credit reference checking agencies to reduce fraud as set out in the UKPS business plan 2002–07. [117123]
Beverley Hughes: The UK Passport Service (UKPS) has conducted a limited pilot on using private sector databases to assist in the confirmation of the identity of people applying for passports. UKPS will be conducting a more extensive pilot in the autumn of this year with a view, if successful, of integrating these checks into the passport issuing process.
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Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of successful dummy fraud applications were detected as set out in the UKPS business plan 2002–07. [117124]
Beverley Hughes: The UK Passport Service (UKPS) has initiated a programme of testing its systems and procedures through the introduction of dummy fraudulent applications. This is a diagnostic tool used by the UKPS to check the effectiveness of its fraud prevention and detection arrangements. It would be prejudicial to the UKPS's business interests to publish detailed information on the results of this testing.
The UKPS is actively using the results to develop its procedures and systems. This includes a large scale pilot of arrangements to access commercial databases to support the identity validation process which will commence this autumn. As indicated in its 2003–08 Corporate and Business Plan the UKPS will be introducing a range of initiatives designed to support examiners in identifying fraudulent applications.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what investigations are in progress within the UK Passport Service relating to criminal trading of passports taken from within passport offices. [117106]
Beverley Hughes: There are no such investigations in progress.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in the UK Passport Service have received training in fraud identification; and how many Special File sections there have been in the UKPS in each of the last five years. [117107]
Beverley Hughes: Fraud identification and awareness is part of the training provided by the UK Passport Service (UKPS) for staff involved in the examination of applications for United Kingdom passports. In addition to this, UKPS has just delivered fraud awareness sessions for all examination staff in all of its seven regional offices.
Staff employed in Special Files sections receive on the job training in fraud identification as part of their induction to these specialist sections. A number of staff within these sections have undertaken training in fraud investigation as part of a programme accredited by the University of Portsmouth. Several of these staff are now recognised as accredited counter-fraud specialists. To strengthen its fraud prevention and detection arrangements, as indicated in its 2003–08 Corporate and Business Plan, the UKPS plans to put all staff dedicated to fraud investigation through such an accredited training programme.
Special Files sections are an integral part of all UKPS regional offices. All offices have had such a section throughout the last five years.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of (a) the number of fraudulent applications for passports and (b) the number detected in each of the last five years. [117113]
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Beverley Hughes: It is very difficult to establish the precise level of identity fraud and this is reflected in the findings of a Cabinet Office study on identity fraud which was published last year.
As part of its Fraud Action Plan the UK Passport Service (UKPS) has undertaken an exercise involving some 10,000 passport applications to establish an indication of the levels of fraudulent application being received. This exercise was run during a peak period in the summer of last year and further exercises need to be run to take account of seasonal variations but if the results of this first exercise are extrapolated they indicate that the level of fraud may run at around 0.18 per cent. of applications received. With around 5 million passports being issued each year this would equate to 9,000 fraudulent applications per year.
This exercise represents a snapshot of the possible level of fraud at a particular time of year. It is to be repeated on a routine basis at different times of the year.
UKPS is currently reviewing its systems for collecting, collating and analysing management information relating to passport fraud. The figures available form existing systems for fraudulent passport applications which have been detected in each of the last five years are given in the table.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1998(28) | 1,368 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,596 |
| 2000–01 | 1,484 |
| 2001–02 | 2,419 |
| 2002–03 | 1,973 |
(28) Calendar year
The figures for 2002–03 do not include a significant number of cases which are subject to major and ongoing investigations.
Strengthening its fraud prevention and detection arrangements while monitoring its customer service standards is a business imperative for the UKPS, and its 2003–08 Corporate and Business Plan details a range of initiatives to improve identity authentication, and to counter fraud. These include improving staff training in fraud detection, the creation of specialist fraud and intelligence units, the launch of a global passport database, building a global lost, stolen, and recovered database, and greater date sharing with public and private sections.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information the UKPS lost and stolen passport database collects as set out in the UKPS business plan 2002–07; and if he will place a copy of this information in the Library. [117122]
Beverley Hughes: The information that will be collected on the UK Passport Service's lost, stolen and recovered database will comprise the personal details of the passport holder, including address; details of the passport concerned; details of the person reporting the loss; and, the circumstances of the loss including any police references. The details which will be collected in relation to recovered passports will be broadly the same as for loss but with details of the person who has
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recovered the passport and the circumstances of the recovery in place of details of the loss reporter and circumstances of the loss.
The forms associated with loss and recovery notification are still being developed but I will be happy to place copies in the Library once they have been finalised.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passports have been lost from the passport offices in (a) Belfast, (b) Durham, (c) Glasgow, (d) Liverpool, (e) London, (f) Liverpool, (g) Newport and (h) Peterborough in each of the last five years. [117126]
Beverley Hughes: A total of 15 passports have been reported lost in three separate incidents from passport offices between 1998 and 2002. The breakdown for each of the last five years is as follows:
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Durham(29) | n/a | n/a | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Glasgow | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Liverpool | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| London | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Newport | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peterborough | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
(29) The Durham office did not open until April 2000.
In each case a full and thorough investigation was undertaken by UK Passport Service security personnel. A police investigation was also undertaken into a single incident in Glasgow when 13 passports could not be accounted for. Details of these passports have been passed to the Immigration Service.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate the UK Passport Agency has made of how many people in the UK have duplicate passports. [117127]
Beverley Hughes: The UK Passport Service (UKPS) does not issue duplicate passports. All passports are uniquely numbered and identified. In certain limited circumstances UKPS will consider issuing a second passport to someone who can demonstrate a legitimate and imperative need for two passports. In such cases the second passport is a unique document with its own unique number.
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