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24 Mar 2004 : Column 867W—continued
Asylum Seekers
Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Burmese asylum seekers have been deported to Burma in each of the past three years; and what information he has received concerning the fate of those people following their repatriation. [159885]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 9 March 2004]: Estimates of the number of Burmese nationals who had sought asylum at some stage and who were removed from the UK in the period January 2001 to September 2003 (the latest available figures) are shown in the table. These figures include persons departing 'voluntarily' after the initiation of enforcement action against them, removals to a safe third country and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration.
| Burma (Myanmar) | |
|---|---|
| 2001 | * |
| 2002 | 10 |
| January to September 2003 | 5 |
(6) Including persons departing "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them.
(7) May include removals to a safe third country.
(8) Data are estimated due to date quality issues on the IND databases.
(9) Provisional figures.
Note:
Date are rounded to nearest five with * denoting 1 or 2
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Information on the destination of these removals and whether they were forcibly removed or departed voluntarily is not available, except by examination of individual case-files at disproportionate cost.
All asylum (and human rights) claims made by Burmese nationals are considered on their individual merits in accordance with our obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Should a claim be refused and any appeal before the independent Immigration Appellate Authority be unsuccessful, it means that for that individual it is safe to return.
In making decisions about removing failed asylum seekers, the Home Office takes full account of up to date information from a wide range of sources about the situation in the country of origin. These sources include intergovernmental organisations (such as the UN), governmental sources (including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and human rights organisations (for example Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch).
If an individual asylum seeker establishes a need for international protection they would not be returned. We do not have information on individuals returned to Burma and there would be difficulties in determining the extent to which any problems the individuals experienced could be attributed to their having been returned as failed asylum seekers.
Charities Bill
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish the draft Charities Bill. [162298]
Fiona Mactaggart: The publication of a draft Charities Bill this Session was announced in the Queen's Speech and my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has undertaken to publish such a Bill as soon as possible.
Cheadle Royal Hospital
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2004, Official Report, column 714W, on Cheadle Royal Hospital, if he will place in the Library a copy of the reply from the Director of Operations to the hon. Member for Cheadle. [160458]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Director of Operations wrote to the hon. Member on 9 March and a copy is now available in the Library.
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2004, Official Report, columns 714–15W, on Cheadle Royal Hospital, when the administrative arrangements for challenge and review of formal decisions of the Charity Commission were implemented. [160511]
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Fiona Mactaggart: The Commission introduced administrative arrangements for challenge and review of its decisions on 1 January 2000. Full details, including published staff guidance and details of the decision reviews carried out to date, can be found on the Commission's website (www.charitycommission.gov.uk)
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2004, Official Report, columns 714–15W, on Cheadle Royal Hospital, when the Charity Commission reported the disposals of Cheadle Royal Hospital assets to Parliament; when the reports were audited by the National Audit Office; and when the Public Accounts Committee reviewed the audited reports. [160512]
Fiona Mactaggart: I advised the hon. Member of the scrutiny arrangements for the Charity Commission in my answer of 1 March 2004, Official Report, column 715W.
The Commission's statutory annual report on its operations made to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, further to section 1(5) of the Charities Act 1993, is laid by him before Parliament. This details the Commission's activities, operations and performance against its targets for the year. It also contains details of any significant developments in the operating environment during the year as identified at the time of publication. It does not contain details of individual charities and their activities except for a small number of examples that serve to illustrate the wide range of the Commission's work as registrar and regulator of the 187,316 charities on the Central Register of Charities (as at 31 March 2003). The Commission's latest report for the financial year 2002–03 is publicly available on its website (www.charitycommission.gov.uk).
The Commission is also required to produce a separate annual report as part of its Resource Accounts, which it prepares and publishes as required by Her Majesty's Treasury. The financial statements in the Commission's Resource Accounts are audited by the National Audit Office who may choose to refer particular aspects to the Public Accounts Committee for further inquiry. The latest Resource Accounts for 2002–03 are publicly available on the Commission's website.
Crime Statistics
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many crimes have been recorded in each constituency in Lancashire in each of the last five years, broken down by type of crime; [156514]
- (2) how many (a) burglaries, (b) car thefts, (c) acts of vandalism, (d) muggings, (e) rapes and (f) violent attacks were reported in Chorley constituency in each of the last three years. [157683]
Ms Blears: The available information is given in a table that has been placed in the Library.
Figures for crimes recorded by the police are not broken down by constituency areas. However, they are available at Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) level. There are currently fourteen CDRPs in Lancashire, including Chorley. CDRPs broadly equate
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to Local Authority areas, and financial year figures are available for 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2002–03.
Figures for recorded crime offences are available at CDRP level for six key offences groups only: violence against the person, sexual offences, robbery, burglary in a dwelling, theft of a motor vehicle, and theft from a vehicle.
The number of offences recorded may have been affected by the adoption of the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS). The NCRS was officially implemented across England and Wales in April 2002. Lancashire police adopted the Standard prior to this, in August 2000. The NCRS has particularly impacted in violent crime offences. Therefore, following the introduction of the Standard, numbers of recorded crimes are not directly comparable with previous years.
Criminal Assets
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his Answer of 2 March 2004, Official Report, column 899W, on criminal assets, what proportion of (a) cash seizures, (b) confiscation orders, (c) restraint orders and (d) freezing orders made to date were related to drug offences; what proportion of the money which has been successfully recovered to date has been allocated to (A) crime reduction projects and (B) central Treasury funds; and how he plans to allocate amounts seized in future. [161791]
Caroline Flint: The information in relation to cash seizures is not available. I understand from the Crown Prosecution Service that 85 per cent. of confiscation orders and 44 per cent. of restraint orders made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 related to drug offences. I understand from the Assets Recovery Agency that 57 per cent. of the freezing orders related to drug offences.
All receipts from recovered assets are allocated to a range of initiatives in the asset recovery field. A new police incentivisation scheme will be introduced in 2004–05 that will enable police forces to receive a share of the criminal assets that are recovered locally. Police forces will benefit by receiving a third of all the recovered assets above £40 million in 2004–05, increasing to a half for 2005–06. The maximum benefit available to the police will be £43 million in 2004–05 rising to £65 million in 2005–06. The Government will be using the first £40 million to help fund existing commitments in the asset recovery field.
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