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18 May 2004 : Column 857W—continued
Green Minister
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what work his Department's Green Minister has undertaken in the last three months in that capacity. [172310]
Fiona Mactaggart: Much of my day-to-day work on community cohesion, race issues, voluntary and community activity and active citizenship directly supports sustainable development. In the last three months, in my capacity as Green Minister, I have also participated in a number of meetings, judged an energy efficiency switch off campaign competition for the department and continued to support the Framework Project established to tackle the environmental targets for the Government Estate, which I launched at a departmental workshop in December last year.
I have also re-launched the Regulatory Impact Assessment within the Department to reflect the greater emphasis on sustainable development.
Identity Cards
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment the Office of Government Commerce has carried out of the identity card
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programme as referred to at paragraph 1.11 of his consultation document, Legislation on Identity Cards (Cm 6178). [170815]
Mr. Browne: The Office of Government Commerce completed a Gateway 0 Review in January 2004 and assessed the programme as being ready to go forward to its next phase.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from what date it will no longer be possible to obtain (a) a passport and (b) a driving licence which is not designated as an identity card under the proposals in the draft Identity Card Bill. [172300]
Mr. Browne: No date has yet been set for when any specific document will be designated as an ID card and therefore from when that document must be issued with, or as part of, an ID card.
Immigration
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of applications for immigration were accepted in England and Wales were accepted in each year since 1997. [168457]
Mr. Browne: The latest available statistics relating to decisions on applications for an extension of leave to remain or settlement made in the United Kingdom are given in the following table. Corresponding information for England and Wales is not available.
Detailed statistics on immigration control are published in the Command Paper "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2002" (Cm 6053), which is available in the Library, the Stationery Office and via the Home Office website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/hobpubs1.html.
| Number of decisions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
| All decisions | 166,580 | 160,080 | 178,810 | 249,920 | 277,375 | 337,650 |
| Visitors | 9,590 | 10,000 | 9,085 | 12,990 | 14,695 | 15,355 |
| Working holidaymakers | 340 | 360 | 270 | 300 | 1,340 | 2,700 |
| Students | 54,450 | 46,500 | 52,495 | 74,205 | 90,115 | 128,400 |
| Trainees | 8,810 | 8,360 | 8,230 | 8,825 | 8,270 | 7,960 |
| Au Pairs | 910 | 810 | 495 | 435 | 495 | 360 |
| Work permit holders | 10,950 | 12,605 | 14,555 | 27,040 | 44,025 | 54,865 |
| Permit free employment(6) | 5,080 | 4,470 | 4,155 | 5,680 | 6,015 | 7,415 |
| Independent means | 50 | 50 | 25 | 40 | 35 | 10 |
| Business(7) | 320 | 420 | 310 | 1,835 | 5,580 | 10,715 |
| Fiancé(e)s | 80 | 40 | 45 | 95 | 85 | 100 |
| Spouse (probationary year applications)(8) | 17,200 | 16,720 | 16,555 | 27,645 | 24,910 | 19,235 |
| Other limited leave | 16,030 | 7,900 | 6,600 | 7,655 | 6,915 | 10,470 |
| Settlement | 42,760 | 51,835 | 65,995 | 83,165 | 74,900 | 78,935 |
| Category unknown | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1,140 |
n/a= not applicable.
(4) Excludes dependants of principal applicants, asylum related decisions, the outcome of appeals and withdrawn applications.
(5) Excludes "in line" dependants and the outcome of appeals.
(6) Includes writers and artists.
(7) Includes investors and innovators.
(8) Data include unmarried partners.
Note:
Data rounded to the nearest 5.
18 May 2004 : Column 859W
Interception Warrants
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many interception warrants have been issue in each year since 1997. [172495]
Ms Blears: The figures for the number of interception warrants issued since 1997 are published annually in the Annual Reports of the Interception of Communications Commissioner initially appointed under the Interception of Communications Act 1985 and now under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. Copies are available in the House of Commons Library.
NHS Recruitment
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what checks are in place in ensure that foreign healthcare workers who have been granted work permits are employed in the provision of healthcare upon entering the United Kingdom; [170666]
(2) what checks are in place in ensure that foreign healthcare workers who have been granted work permits are employed as stated on their application upon entering the United Kingdom. [170667]
Mr. Browne [holding answer 4 May 2004]: Sample checks are carried out on a random or intelligence led basis on employers, by post or by visiting their premises, including those in the Healthcare Sector, in order to ensure that work permit holders are employed for the purpose stated on the work permit application. Where it can be shown that is not the case, action is taken to revoke the work permits.
North London Mosque
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the public order consequences of the regular Friday meetings held outside the North London Mosque; and if he will make a statement. [169781]
Caroline Flint: The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis tells me that he understands the concerns of local residents about the disruption caused by the road closure. However, it is necessary for safety reasons to close the road while prayers take place.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will invite the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis to ensure that the public
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highway is free from obstructions on Fridays outside the North London Mosque; and if he will make a statement. [169804]
Caroline Flint: This is an operational matter for the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis. He tells me that it is necessary for safety reasons to close the road outside the North London Mosque on Fridays while prayers take place.
Parliamentary Questions
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Home Office questions were tabled between 6 January and 31 March; and how many remain unanswered. [167523]
Fiona Mactaggart: According to our records the Home Office received 2,769 parliamentary questions (PQ) between the period of 6 January and 31 March, the numbers that remain unanswered is 86 (3 per cent.).
Every effort is made to reply to parliamentary questions within the parliamentary deadlines wherever possible. Consequently the Home Office is currently in the process of introducing a new PQ system, the electronic parliamentary questions system (ePQS) to better monitor and manage the Department's performance.
The ePQS monitoring system has identified the bottlenecks in the PQ process and remedial action is being taken. As is usual with the introduction of any new IT system, performance has shown an initial decline. The benefits of ePQS are now being realised across the Department and performance is improving.
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