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Asylum Seekers

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers have been granted exceptional right to work in the last 12 months; and what his estimate is of the number of asylum seekers who remain in employment which they commenced prior to the abolition of the employment concession. [124987]

Beverley Hughes: Information about the number of asylum seekers granted permission to work exceptionally in the last 12 months is not available centrally and could be obtained only by examination of individual case files.

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There are no estimates on the number of asylum seekers who remain in employment having been granted permission to work prior to the abolition of the employment concession.

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has made towards setting a target for the proportion of asylum cases to be decided within six months. [124991]

Beverley Hughes: The six-month target is the joint responsibility of the Home Office and the Department for Constitutional Affairs. Both Departments are

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working closely to finalise a challenging but realistic target and will publish this as soon as it is available.

Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqi asylum applications have been refused in each of the last five years. [125101]

Beverley Hughes: The table shows the number of Iraqi asylum applicants, excluding dependants, refused asylum or exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom between January 1998 and December 2002. These statistics relate to initial decisions only and exclude the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.

Initial decisions on applications received for asylum in the United Kingdom⁽³⁰⁾ for nationals of Iraq—1998 to 2002Number of principal applicants

		Cases considered under normal procedures(32)			Backlog clearance exercise(33)
	Initial decisions(31)	Granted asylum	Granted ELR	Refused	Granted asylum or ELR under backlog criteria	Refused under backlog criteria(34)
1998	1,100	510	500	90	—	—
1999	745	315	320	100	5	*
2000	5,530	845	2,455	2,220	10	*
2001(35)	8,880	815	1,855	6,210	—	—
2002(35)	11,785	700	8,130	2,955	—	—

⁽³⁰⁾ Figures rounded to the nearest 5, with * = 1 or 2.

⁽³¹⁾ Information is of initial decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.

⁽³²⁾ Cases considered under normal procedures may include some cases decided under the backlog criteria.

⁽³³⁾ Cases decided under measures aimed at reducing the pre-1996 asylum application backlog.

⁽³⁴⁾ Includes some cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds.

⁽³⁵⁾ Provisional data.

Information on initial decisions on asylum applications is published quarterly. The next publication will cover the period up to June 2003, and will be available provisionally from 28 August 2003 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqi asylum seekers have been required to return to Iraq in the past year; and if he will make a statement. [125103]

Beverley Hughes: Excluding dependants, it is estimated that 195 Iraqi nationals who had sought asylum at some stage were removed in 2002. This figure includes persons deciding to leave after the initiation of enforcement action against them, and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organization for Migration.

Information on the destination of these removals is not available.

Data on removals by nationality in the period January to March 2003 are due to be published on 28 August on the Home Office web-site www. homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/whatsnew1.html

Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the UNHCR's observations on the situation in Iraq and large scale return of Iraqi refugees; [125104]

(2) if he will implement a moratorium on (a) Iraqi asylum decisions and (b) the proposals to return rejected applicants. [125105]

Beverley Hughes: Decision making on Iraqi asylum applications was suspended on 20 March 2003 at the onset of military action. The rapidly changing country conditions meant that there was insufficient information to make a fully considered decision, either positive or negative, about an applicant's claim and whether they would qualify for asylum under the United Nations Convention.

We decided to resume processing of Iraqi asylum applications with effect from 16 June 2003. This coincided with a decision by the Independent Appellate Authority (IAA) to begin relisting asylum appeal hearings from the same date.

While there remain security and humanitarian concerns in some areas, the threat of persecution from Saddam Hussein's regime no longer exists. We did not want to keep applications on hold longer than necessary given the uncertainty this creates for the individuals concerned. Having obtained information about conditions in Iraq from a range of sources, we concluded that there was sufficient information on which to base decisions As with asylum applications from all nationalities, each case will be considered individually on its merits.

The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) is currently making preparations for the eventual return of large numbers of Iraqis and is developing a return and reintegration plan. UNHCR understands that there are people who wish to return right now and is aware that we are making plans for voluntary return programmes. We are aware of their concerns and will continue to work closely with them. With this in mind, we are developing a coherent returns

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strategy. Initially the emphasis will be on facilitating voluntary returns. Enforced returns will only be considered once we are satisfied that conditions on the ground allow for this.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the (a) country of departure and (b) country of origin of asylum seekers who made an asylum claim at (i) Heathrow and (ii) Gatwick airports in each of the last five years. [125185]

Beverley Hughes: Data is not collated centrally on the origin or the country of departure of asylum seekers, only by nationality. To obtain information on the number of people, who claimed asylum at Heathrow and Gatwick, over the last five years, would be possible only by examination of individual case-files at a disproportionate cost.

Community Support Officers

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice he has issued to chief constables on the (a) recruitment and (b) use of community support officers. [122882]

Ms Blears: The recruitment and deployment of community support officers (CSOs) is a matter for chief officers. In December 2002 the Home Office issued a "Frequently Asked Questions" document which gave some advice on these issues. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has also published a more detailed guidance document on CSOs, with material on both recruitment and deployment. This guidance is available to chief officers on the ACPO intranet site.

Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of community support officers. [125107]

Ms Blears: The 27 forces who received first round Community Support Officer (CSO) funding are required to carry out a formal evaluation of their schemes. I expect to receive their initial findings by the end of September. In addition to this I have already received a significant amount of informal evidence, such

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as letters from members of the public, indicating that CSOs have been a great success in combating low level crime and reassuring the public.

Consultation Documents

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the consultation documents issued by his Department in each of the last four years; what the cost was of producing each of these; how many documents were issued in each consultation; and how many responses were received in each consultation. [124575]

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government recommend that policy development should be done in close consultation with stakeholders. Formal consultation documents are only one part of this process, which includes:

Stakeholder meetings


Listening events/public meetings


Web forums


Public surveys


Focus groups


Regional events


Free-phone and freepost surveys and events


Targeted leaflet campaigns


Road shows and exhibitions.

It is standard practice for departments to evaluate the policy development process, including the use of consultation.

Details of the number of consultation documents issued in each consultation exercise are not collated on a central basis and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Also provision of full details as requested for the years 1999–2000 would also incur disproportionate cost. However to give the fullest reply I can advise that the Home Office launched 19 consultations in 1999 and 28 consultation papers in 2000. Details of Home Office consultation publications can be found at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/inside/consults/index.html

The following table lists the consultations launched in 2001, 2002 plus those that were launched this year and for which the consultation period has concluded. I include figures for cost where available; methodology in calculating costs may vary.

Consultation papers launched in 2001

Title	Number of responses	Available figures for cost (£)
Animal Procedures—review of the Ethical Review Process	139	35,000
Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000—New Laws for a successful Multi-Racial Britain	302	30,000
Review of the victims Charter	n/a	n/a
The Law on Extradition: a review	15	82,000
Animal Rights Extremism: Government Strategy: A Consultation	55	n/a
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974: A consultation leaflet	95	2,155
Guidance for the use of an Intermediary under s.29 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999	86	80,617
Funding Community Groups: a consultation document	235	3,742
The Halliday Report—Making punishments work	305	75,000
Consultation of use of X/Gamma Radiation Scanner.	n/a	n/a
Extension of Civil Penalties to Freight Shuttle Wagons	n/a	n/a
Consultation Paper on the Review of Part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997	46	50,000 plus
Accessing Communications data—draft code of practice	n/a	n/a
Police and Criminal Evidence Act—Code F	10	n/a
Ratification of the Driving Disqualification Convention	46	n/a
Review of Family Visitors Appeals	n/a	n/a
Improving the planning of Young People Substance Misuse Services	440	n/a
Fees for the removal and storage of vehicles, under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984	21	n/a
White Paper 'Policing a New Century: A Blueprint for reform	1,200	n/a
Death in Police Custody—Consultation paper on revising the definition of categories of deaths of members of the public during or following police contact	14	930

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Consultation papers launched in 2002

Title	Number of responses	Available figures for cost
Motor Salvage Operators Regulations 2002, made under the Vehicles (Crime) Act 2001	26	n/a
Secure Borders Safe Haven—Integration with diversity in modern Britain	330	n/a
Extension of controlled drugs licensing	49	n/a
Proposed changes to the Misuse of Drugs legislation	11	n/a
Review of Crime Reduction Training	n/a	n/a
Police and Criminal Evidence Act—Code A	45	n/a
Review of Work Permit Policy on Recruitment of employment agencies and contractors	54	n/a
Charging for the consideration of Work Permit applications	135	n/a
Merger of CDRPs/DATs	234	n/a
Working Holidaymaker Scheme: Consultation document	84	5,219 inc 4,750 staff costs
Police and Criminal Evidence Act—Code B	28	No separate costs available aspart of wider review
Police and Criminal Evidence Act—Code C	16	No separate costs available aspart of wider review
Police and Criminal Evidence Act—Code D	105	No separate costs available aspart of wider review
Police and Criminal Evidence Act—Code E	16	No separate costs available aspart of wider review
Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud	5,031	Responses still being analysed.Too early to calculate cost.
Breaking the Circle—A report of the review of the rehabilitation of offenders act	68	50,000
Justice for All (Home Office, Attorney General and Lord Chancellor)	242	n/a
Death in Police Custody—Consultation paper on revising the definition of categories of deaths of members of the public during or following police contact	13	n/a
Protocol to the Convention on mutual assistance in criminal matters	3	n/a
Proceeds of Crime Act Section 292—Code of Practice for search powers regarding recovery of criminal proceeds	23	2,652
Proceeds of Crime Act—Part 7 (Money laundering) Section 339 Form and manner of disclosures.	54	2,964
Fundamental review of death certification and the Coroner services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland	500+	1.1 million for the review as awhole. The writing, issuing andconsideration of the responsesto the consultation documentwere not available separately.
Criminal Justice White Paper: Proposals on jury exemptions and excusals PRIA	56	4,300
Proceeds of Crime Act section 377—Investigation powers	24	3,325
Proposals to make lawful the supply of specific items of drugs paraphernalia to drug users	75	n/a
Implementation of juxtaposed controls at Calais	13	n/a
IAA 1999 provision of facilities at ports and charging for additional services section 25/26 1999 Act	8	2,000

Consultation papers launched in 2003 and closed to date.

Title	Number of responses	Available figures for cost
Sexual Offences Bill—sex offenders who travel abroad	26	n/a
Insurance Cover Working Group paper (Voluntary Sector Insurance)	n/a	n/a
Patient Group Directions (PGD)—Proposal to permit the supply of certain controlled drugs by health professionals under the PGD system.	80	n/a
Criminal Records Bureau—reform of the disclosure process	570	11,400
Access to communications data—respecting privacy and protecting the public from crime	187	66,167
Retention of communications data—Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001	54	25,251
Bind overs—a power for the 21st Century	16	3,500 approx
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum (NIA) Act 2002. Sections 134–139: Implementation of new information powers.	16	n/a
Juxtaposed controls implementation—Dover-Calais	10	765
Criminal Records Bureau—Basic Disclosure: Routing applications for basic disclosure through registered bodies	358	Still being analysed.Costs not known yet
New sentencing guidance for the court of appeal on the crime of Robbery	30—including oneanticipated late response	n/a
Review of the seasonal agricultural workers scheme	n/a	n/a

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