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3 Feb 2004 : Column 794W—continued

Illegal Entrants (London Airports)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal entrants have been detected at (a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick, (c) Stansted, (d) Luton and (e) City airport in each of the last six years. [148439]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 19 January 2004]: The number of people against whom illegal entry action was initiated in each of the last six years for which information is available is shown in the table. Information on the ports at which these persons were detected is unavailable and would be available by examination of individual case-files only at disproportionate cost.

Persons against whom illegal entry action was initiated 1997 to 2002

	Number of persons
1997	14,390
1998	16,500
1999	21,165
2000	47,325
2001	69,875
2002(8)	48,050

⁽⁸⁾ Provisional figures.

Illegal entry action is initiated against those people who are detected entering the country clandestinely or by means of deception, either verbal or documentary.

This information and other statistics on the immigration and asylum system are published annually in the Command publication "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom" a copy of which is in the House Library and can be found on the Home Office website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Information Technology

Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what audit mechanisms are in place to determine whether information technology (a) hardware and (b) software products are being used properly in his Department. [150932]

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office (core directorates including the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND)) has outsourced support for most of its IT infrastructures, including desktop computers, to three companies:

Sirius (Fujitsu Services with IBM and Global Crossing) covering the core office and some IND locations (the 'POISE' infrastructure);

3 Feb 2004 : Column 795W

Siemens covering caseworking for IND; and
Steria covering the Probation Service areas.

Home Office contracts provide for the audit of supplier service provision including licence provision. Asset registers are maintained for the major infrastructures. The Home Office allows its staff and people working on behalf of the Department reasonable personal use of its IT equipment. Usage is monitored in accordance with the Information Commissioner's Code of Practice: Monitoring at Work. The Department's notices: 'Non-official use of Home Office telephones and computer facilities', 'Use of POISE and the Internet including non-official purposes' and 'Warning to Staff: Misuse and Abuse of IT' set out Departmental policy to staff. Misuse of hardware and/or software assets may lead to disciplinary measures including dismissal.

Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what cost savings have been made in his Department since the introduction of the Information Technology Procurement Centre of Excellence; and how these were calculated. [151048]

Fiona Mactaggart: A Centre of Excellence was established within the Home Office in June 2003 to integrate the essential functions which underpin the successful delivery of all types of acquisition based programmes and projects. As cost benefits will not accrue until improvements start to take effect, it is too early to measure cost savings. All centres of excellence are currently developing future plans and as part of this process measurement of savings will be defined.

Knives

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to bring forward proposals to differentiate between kitchen knives and combat knives in legislation. [150954]

Ms Blears [holding answer 27 January 2004]: None. Current legislation recognises that all knives have potential to cause injury and, in general, does not

3 Feb 2004 : Column 796W

distinguish between kitchen knives and combat knives. Under the Knives Act 1997, it is an offence to market a knife which indicates that it is suitable for combat or is likely to encourage violent behaviour.

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what efforts are being made to ensure that children under the age of 16 do not (a) buy and (b) carry knives. [150956]

Ms Blears [holding answer 27 January 2004]: Section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 makes it an offence to sell a knife or other article with blade or point to persons under 16 years of age. Under Section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 it is an offence of having an article with a blade or point in a public place without good reason or lawful excuse. An exemption applies to folding pocket knives with a blade of less than three inches. The Government supports operations by the Police and Trading Standards Officers to enforce this legislation.

Metropolitan Police

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the rate of Metropolitan police officer abstractions was from each London borough for (a) counter-terrorism, (b) special operations and (c) public order event policing work in each of the last 12 months; what the average was for each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [151075]

Ms Blears [holding answer 26 January 2004]: The numbers of Metropolitan police officer abstractions from each London borough for counter-terrorism, public order and other event policing work during the last 12 months and average abstractions for each borough for the last three years are shown in the following tables. These statistics are taken from data stored within the Public Order Strategic Management Information System held by the Metropolitan Police.

Information on abstraction by borough prior to 2001 is not available.

Number of constables abstracted for Counter Terrorism (Ceremonial, Royal visits and security Events) from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003

	January	February	March	April	May	June	July
Barking and Dagenham	2	32	154	361	194	166	109
Barnet	4	94	205	457	221	290	126
Belgravia	0	90	144	260	145	122	76
Bexley	0	53	128	361	129	167	86
Brent	1	176	55	339	265	283	148
Bromley	0	86	185	544	210	247	100
Camden	4	159	243	534	423	339	103
Charing Cross	8	123	124	198	128	102	116
Croydon	0	108	185	553	316	360	89
Ealing	0	218	184	456	166	323	103
Enfield	2	82	201	472	168	257	43
Greenwich	0	80	223	567	404	340	198
Hackney	0	89	109	326	307	332	52
Hammersmith and Fulham	0	111	41	230	56	81	73
Haringey	2	89	69	241	249	346	76
Harrow	0	95	121	276	62	153	86
Havering	2	35	164	377	235	205	70
Hillingdon	0	255	190	500	237	257	25
Hounslow	0	232	156	503	90	255	108
Islington	6	108	184	404	201	310	110
Kensington and Chelsea	0	141	186	415	313	284	104
Kingston	0	71	105	239	214	130	23
Lambeth	13	280	188	780	504	372	186
Lewisham	0	88	182	436	191	302	83
Marylebone	0	89	101	240	65	140	104
Merton	0	77	119	259	99	47	33
Newham	8	60	473	921	154	178	140
Paddington	0	83	107	187	70	51	79
Redbridge	6	76	68	288	153	183	98
Richmond	1	109	118	242	88	130	71
Southwark	0	247	143	654	442	371	145
Sutton and Epsom	0	97	105	323	225	103	86
Tower Hamlets	4	78	370	583	319	371	123
Waltham Forest	0	84	209	438	257	231	62
Wandsworth	0	192	189	427	268	232	59
West End Central	0	110	162	185	284	173	82
Total	63	4,197	5,890	14,576	7,852	8,233	3,375

3 Feb 2004 : Column 797W

	August	September	October	November	December	Total
Barking and Dagenham	1	231	18	150	22	1,440
Barnet	14	273	35	333	45	2,097
Belgravia	14	196	62	209	25	1,343
Bexley	0	151	1	169	12	1,257
Brent	37	338	19	335	51	2,047
Bromley	2	209	6	273	21	1,883
Camden	12	234	55	587	49	2,742
Charing Cross	84	432	42	328	47	1,732
Croydon	14	187	6	299	3	2,120
Ealing	30	274	19	350	26	2,149
Enfield	8	290	100	292	18	1,933
Greenwich	1	373	7	289	14	2,496
Hackney	17	400	25	456	66	2,179
Hammersmith and Fulham	7	370	3	306	2	1,280
Haringey	7	427	46	337	19	1,908
Harrow	15	167	12	149	8	1,144
Havering	0	216	25	189	12	1,530
Hillingdon	65	192	0	210	43	1,974
Hounslow	42	159	5	266	25	1,841
Islington	0	346	19	401	58	2,147
Kensington and Chelsea	36	385	12	424	7	2,307
Kingston	35	71	2	146	1	1,037
Lambeth	48	416	57	547	45	3,436
Lewisham	15	387	8	405	9	2,106
Marylebone	14	188	15	262	37	1,255
Merton	7	83	6	169	3	902
Newham	39	468	23	361	23	2,848
Paddington	13	271	23	321	64	1,269
Redbridge	15	267	38	245	20	1,457
Richmond	22	136	2	162	0	1,081
Southwark	50	484	21	527	36	3,120
Sutton and Epsom	14	80	4	141	2	1,180
Tower Hamlets	28	437	61	475	65	2,914
Waltham Forest	21	273	38	269	22	1,904
Wandsworth	21	293	5	344	25	2,055
West End Central	7	254	47	290	43	1,637
Total	755	9,958	867	11,016	968	67,750

Number of constables abstracted for Public Order (includes Public Order, Football and other sporting events) from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003

	January	February	March	April	May	June	July
Barking and Dagenham	189	102	189	105	99	85	61
Barnet	190	149	261	129	172	64	221
Belgravia	82	31	97	96	47	75	53
Bexley	94	64	158	99	47	46	35
Brent	129	78	226	382	310	122	198
Bromley	132	88	171	150	80	57	95
Camden	197	140	322	225	295	156	162
Charing Cross	162	198	155	138	115	96	89
Croydon	123	158	353	316	135	67	113
Ealing	221	133	244	205	187	166	131
Enfield	217	116	165	148	89	59	341
Greenwich	267	127	243	261	174	89	140
Hackney	285	88	248	425	152	340	144
Hammersmith and Fulham	243	289	352	478	163	129	156
Haringey	182	151	200	481	137	269	319
Harrow	142	81	163	114	142	55	66
Havering	92	87	200	118	147	36	43
Hillingdon	131	75	235	111	116	36	105
Hounslow	165	110	325	212	120	74	84
Islington	303	168	343	217	307	122	168
Kensington and Chelsea	127	92	121	172	77	110	161
Kingston	58	71	139	78	76	81	104
Lambeth	258	212	423	546	222	230	131
Lewisham	201	169	298	203	121	96	173
Marylebone	94	43	176	117	205	112	132
Merton	106	76	140	113	109	286	231
Newham	273	283	248	263	180	78	127
Paddington	54	32	108	76	54	90	66
Redbridge	194	91	185	156	120	116	157
Richmond	78	117	168	124	133	66	38
Southwark	221	142	311	471	191	173	153
Sutton and Epsom	76	33	141	90	56	101	49
Tower Hamlets	255	370	204	134	142	29	126
Waltham Forest	241	166	219	189	207	196	44
Wandsworth	148	117	257	184	108	142	160
West End Central	123	73	172	111	45	70	107
Total	6,053	4,520	7,960	7,437	5,080	4,119	4,683

3 Feb 2004 : Column 799W

	August	September	October	November	December	Total
Barking and Dagenham	178	33	118	56	139	1,354
Barnet	262	103	143	91	179	1,964
Belgravia	156	37	62	29	28	793
Bexley	129	46	82	45	118	963
Brent	409	248	106	174	311	2,693
Bromley	206	78	111	50	127	1,345
Camden	476	361	181	89	365	2,969
Charing Cross	164	92	75	2	137	1,423
Croydon	419	136	171	76	253	2,320
Ealing	406	99	106	292	164	2,354
Enfield	343	130	68	68	285	2,029
Greenwich	279	83	70	85	82	1,900
Hackney	360	174	54	77	489	2,836
Hammersmith and Fulham	389	196	236	242	292	3,165
Haringey	463	253	266	162	448	3,331
Harrow	93	106	91	87	179	1,319
Havering	210	35	63	73	166	1,270
Hillingdon	251	69	79	93	196	1,497
Hounslow	239	103	140	108	191	1,871
Islington	406	237	169	182	357	2,979
Kensington and Chelsea	384	71	174	44	141	1,674
Kingston	144	69	68	34	123	1,045
Lambeth	481	321	221	135	264	3,444
Lewisham	496	190	220	124	261	2,552
Marylebone	323	32	40	54	83	1,411
Merton	252	36	61	34	109	1,553
Newham	510	176	176	141	228	2,683
Paddington	235	53	94	64	112	1,038
Redbridge	390	86	78	147	136	1,856
Richmond	103	101	50	29	133	1,140
Southwark	428	201	199	77	243	2,810
Sutton and Epsom	131	33	74	20	72	876
Tower Hamlets	301	154	60	94	226	2,095
Waltham Forest	318	105	88	95	216	2,084
Wandsworth	314	77	161	70	218	1,956
West End Central	170	52	96	70	86	1,175
Total	10,818	4,376	4,251	3,313	7,157	69,767

3 Feb 2004 : Column 801W

Number of constables abstracted for 'Other' events (other than Football, Sport, Public Order, Ceremonial, Royal Visit or Security) from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003

	January	February	March	April	May	June	July
Barking and Dagenham	34	48	21	27	22	24	182
Barnet	26	39	16	46	22	28	82
Belgravia	12	6	1	17	11	24	43
Bexley	28	25	21	20	10	11	42
Brent	54	38	25	43	34	43	49
Bromley	40	10	21	13	54	63	122
Camden	43	22	4	6	19	10	144
Charing Cross	65	20	11	20	22	11	17
Croydon	27	20	23	20	37	25	79
Ealing	40	171	97	157	55	49	84
Enfield	42	36	21	21	23	23	90
Greenwich	82	24	28	41	30	12	80
Hackney	56	40	25	21	64	42	138
Hammersmith and Fulham	25	7	2	0	18	9	9
Haringey	71	31	57	19	60	60	95
Harrow	36	21	16	37	3	23	4
Havering	39	36	10	26	9	44	90
Hillingdon	47	31	26	28	4	7	43
Hounslow	26	44	33	20	24	28	83
Islington	16	9	1	18	4	21	96
Kensington and Chelsea	20	27	8	20	66	30	73
Kingston	10	1	30	8	25	6	28
Lambeth	62	26	21	29	62	61	254
Lewisham	87	31	21	20	35	24	187
Marylebone	3	27	1	0	3	1	34
Merton	26	8	21	17	3	8	43
Newham	36	49	40	89	40	26	86'
Paddington	18	10	16	21	2	24	34
Redbridge	24	33	32	29	14	37	85
Richmond	10	10	70	10	21	39	21
Southwark	42	30	21	20	107	48	204
Sutton and Epsom	18	23	23	20	23	18	45
Tower Hamlets	48	491	126	29	42	71	202
Waltham Forest	122	35	28	28	21	45	106
Wandsworth	28	26	49	20	24	28	65
West End Central	5	7	16	0	10	24	79
Total	1,368	1,512	982	960	1,023	1,047	3,118

	August	September	October	November	December	Total
Barking and Dagenham	46	19	9	22	17	471
Barnet	67	30	52	63	32	503
Belgravia	22	28	38	86	31	319
Bexley	28	38	89	121	71	504
Brent	56	46	196	48	22	654
Bromley	31	38	108	129	88	717
Camden	54	26	23	76	30	457
Charing Cross	23	54	185	138	62	628
Croydon	28	45	90	124	84	602
Ealing	108	54	108	51	33	1,007
Enfield	55	43	32	50	25	461
Greenwich	183	37	119	99	84	819
Hackney	121	40	40	139	43	769
Hammersmith and Fulham	17	21	34	77	27	246
Haringey	46	30	32	92	15	608
Harrow	70	17	17	23	36	303
Havering	66	32	13	18	7	390
Hillingdon	14	11	29	4	12	256
Hounslow	55	27	39	71	28	478
Islington	48	17	226	55	34	545
Kensington and Chelsea	36	56	65	257	172	830
Kingston	18	20	15	26	23	210
Lambeth	97	71	99	238	155	1,175
Lewisham	69	55	117	229	98	973
Marylebone	13	49	68	112	31	342
Merton	25	18	107	153	84	513
Newham	123	50	116	153	101	909
Paddington	26	25	33	58	1	268
Redbridge	61	34	33	30	13	425
Richmond	55	14	22	43	22	337
Southwark	176	53	118	240	117	1,176
Sutton and Epsom	21	25	65	94	67	442
Tower Hamlets	82	45	120	163	97	1,516
Waltham Forest	91	51	39	57	31	654
Wandsworth	44	60	105	179	85	713
West End Central	38	50	75	106	62	472
Total	2,113	1,329	2,676	3,624	1,940	21,692

3 Feb 2004 : Column 803W

Average monthly number of constables abstracted by borough

	2001			2002			2003
	Counter Terrorism	Public Order	Other	Counter Terrorism	Public Order	Other	Counter Terrorism	Public Order	Other
Barking and Dagenham	65	50	149	30	77	35	120	113	39
Barnet	81	120	165	58	109	75	175	164	42
Belgravia	103	66	42	45	52	22	112	66	27
Bexley	51	69	154	35	63	68	105	80	42
Brent	124	144	59	82	153	84	171	224	54
Bromley	76	82	171	50	92	59	157	112	60
Camden	138	173	118	88	184	62	228	247	38
Charing Cross	108	105	79	64	98	38	144	119	52
Croydon	89	145	169	67	208	62	177	193	50
Baling	103	157	160	61	185	69	179	196	84
Enfield	132	135	80	45	158	60	161	169	38
Greenwich	14	147	123	66	150	68	208	158	68
Hackney	130	142	208	76	180	92	182	236	64
Hammersmith and Fulham	65	244	103	42	293	29	107	264	20
Haringey	99	194	85	47	230	80	159	278	51
Harrow	84	87	66	28	63	28	95	110	25
Havering	91	80	69	35	77	41	127	106	32
Hillingdon	86	95	94	48	120	41	164	125	21
Hounslow	70	123	108	43	137	41	153	156	40
Islington	106	212	79	62	232	44	179	248	45
Kensington and Chelsea	129	145	85	55	170	55	192	139	69
Kingston	65	68	67	29	70	32	86	87	17
Lambeth	166	215	197	94	268	84	286	287	98
Lewisham	104	184	170	75	189	67	175	213	81
Marylebone	105	88	56	34	74	15	105	118	28
Merton	47	84	142	25	87	26	75	129	43
Newham	153	134	184	70	164	92	237	224	76
Paddington	76	85	54	76	74	11	106	86	22
Redbridge	91	93	110	41	107	50	121	155	35
Richmond	63	66	69	28	79	21	90	95	28
Southwark	151	168	192	102	204	70	260	234	98
Sutton and Epsom	38	50	140	29	53	21	98	73	37
Tower Hamlets	95	126	129	75	167	81	243	175	126
Waltham Forest	123	128	78	44	128	63	159	174	54
Wandsworth	74	133	192	52	155	82	171	163	59
West End Central	102	92	39	47	71	14	136	98	39

Source:

P.O.S.M.I.S.

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