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Cigarette Lighters

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Cigarette Lighter Refill Gas Regulations; what plans he has for (a) increasing the age limit and (b) introducing a licensing system; and if he will make a statement. [128344]

Caroline Flint: The Cigarette Lighter Refill (Safety) Regulations 1999 prohibit the sale or supply of such refills to anyone under 18 years. The Regulations came into force on 1 October 1999 and are enforced by local authority trading standards officers. Local Trading Standards departments have a key public protection role, carrying out surveys within their areas to find out whether shops are selling lighter refills to under age persons, and investigating possible legal breaches.

Although the number of deaths resulting from the abuse of butane gas refills and other volatile substances has remained fairly stable since 1991, the Government remain very concerned about any young person who dies in this way. We do not believe, however, that increasing the age limit to which the Regulations apply would help to any significant degree. Nor do we think a licensing system would add significantly to the controls which are already in place.

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In partnership with other Government Departments including DfES, Home Office and DTI, the Department of Health is putting together a comprehensive action plan, within the context of wider substance misuse policy, covering key areas such as prevention, manufacturing, research and legislation. A first draft should be available in autumn 2003.

Country Policy and Information Unit

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the (a) content and (b) use made of the country information produced by the Country Policy and Information Unit. [129766]

Beverley Hughes: The Home Office published research "Country of Origin Information: A User and Content Evaluation" on 1 September 2003. The full text of the research is available at http://www. homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/r211.pdf.

The research was commissioned by the Country Information and Policy Unit and conducted by the Research Development and Statistics Directorate (RDS) in 2001. The findings of the research relate to the position at that time and many of the report's recommendations have since been addressed.

In particular, the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 provided for an independent Advisory Panel on Country Information to be established to provide recommendations on the content of Home Office country information, to help ensure the content of Home Office country information, to help ensure that it is as objective as possible. The advisory panel will also meet the report's recommendations that an expert panel of topic and country specialists should be set up to review CIPU's material and that steps should be taken to improve consultation with external stakeholders.

The Home Secretary is satisfied that the country of origin information produced by the Home Office is accurate and objective and the expert input of the advisory panel can only serve to enhance the quality of CIPU's material.

The advisory panel is chaired by Professor Stephen Castles, Director of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford and held its first meeting on 2 September 2003. The minutes of the panel's meetings will be published in due course.

Depleted Uranium

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the dangers to those who come into close proximity to depleted uranium stolen from a site in Thurrock during July; and if he will make a statement. [126315]

Mr. Browne: I have been asked to reply.

A container made from depleted uranium was in a van stolen from inside a warehouse on 7 July 2003. The container was part of the normal emergency equipment carried in case there should be a problem with a source of ionising radiation that had not yet been loaded into the van. The Health and Safety Executive investigated the incident and concluded that the container would be safe to approach and handle. Even if it was mistreated,

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such as by fire or explosion, only very extreme conditions would result in the possibility of airborne radioactivity that could lead to low level internal exposure.

There is no reason to believe that the theft of the van was other than opportunistic.

Domestic Violence

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to extend the introduction of the one year period of reflection rule in cases of domestic violence to asylum seeking women, and to women and children who are victims of trafficking for sexual purposes. [127281]

Beverley Hughes: There is provision in the Immigration Rules to assist those who have sought leave to enter based upon marriage, whose marriage subsequently breaks down during the probationary period as a result of domestic violence, to settle in the UK, providing they meet certain criteria. There are no plans at the moment to extend this provision to asylum seeking women, or to women and children who are victims of trafficking for sexual purposes. We believe there are already adequate safeguards in the system for their protection, and that decisions on each case should be made on the basis of individual circumstances.

Essex Police Force

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the approved strength of the Essex police force is; and how many vacancies there are. [129666]

Ms Blears: The Home Office does not set approved strengths for police forces. Essex police had 2,995 police officers on 31 December 2002, a record number. The force employed 1,571 police staff on 31 March 2002, the latest date for which figures are available.

I understand that the force intends to take on 105 officers during the remainder of 2003–04.

Experience Corps Scheme

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the Experience Corps Scheme. [130722]

Fiona Mactaggart: The experience corps has been a useful project, which has enabled us to learn a number of lessons about attracting older volunteers. The experience corps were recently evaluated and the findings suggest that there were concerns surrounding their figures on volunteer recruitment. While they have attracted a significant number of volunteers, they are likely to fall short of their target.

Our current funding agreement with the experience corps comes to an end in March 2004. We have decided not to continue to fund the experience corps beyond that date. We are still, however, committed to encouraging older people to volunteer.

Hoax Telephone Calls

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals suspected

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of making hoax calls to the emergency services have (a) been arrested and (b) had their telephones disconnected in the last two months for which figures are available. [129480]

Ms Blears: Information on the number of persons arrested for making false calls in order to cause annoyance is not collected centrally.

Immigrants (Scotland)

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from the Scottish Executive on attracting immigrants to Scotland. [127209]

Beverley Hughes: Discussions between Home Office and Scottish Executive Ministers take place regularly on a number of issues, and these have included the Scottish Executive's interest in UK managed migration policies.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff there were in each office of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in the last year for which figures are available; and what the remit of each office is. [127206]

Beverley Hughes: The number of full-time equivalent staff in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate by business area, at 30 June 2003 was:

	Number
Immigration Service—(including border controls and removals)	6,500
Asylum support, asylum casework and appeals	2,830
Managed Migration (applications for leave to remain, nationality and work permits)	1,690
Non-operational (includes policy development and corporate services)	1,880

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set up an Immigration and Nationality Directorate office in Scotland. [127210]

Beverley Hughes: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) has a Public Enquiry Office (PEO) in Glasgow. In May 2003, responsibility for this office transferred from UK Immigration service to the IND. Since this transfer, the Glasgow office has expanded their services and now deal with all types of straightforward applications for leave to remain and settlement. Applicants are required to make an appointment prior to attending. There are no plans for any further offices to be opened in Scotland.

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many items (a) deposited at and (b) posted to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate have been (i) lost at and (ii) stolen from each office in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [128770]

Beverley Hughes: Information dating back to 1993 for each of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's buildings is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 12 June 2003, Official

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Report, column 1053W, and would add that as at 4 September this year, 2,872 requests for the return of documents had been received and 571 lost passport letters issued. A range of measures including the setting up of secure handling areas and the early return of sponsors' passports are currently being put in place to improve significantly IND's ability to find and return documents at the time of request.

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