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Deportations/Removals

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been (a) removed and (b) deported from the United Kingdom in each of the last three years. [173289]

Mr. Browne: The available information is in the table.
Persons removed from the United Kingdom, 2000 to 2002 1,2: United Kingdom Number of persons

	2000	2001	2002
Total persons removed3,4	46,645	50,625	68,630
Of whom: removed as a result of
Deportation action(87)	1,280	450	100

⁽⁸³⁾ Under sections 3(6), 3(7) or 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971, or under section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
⁽⁸⁴⁾ Including persons departing 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them.
⁽⁸⁵⁾ Includes dependants of asylum seekers removed from April 2001 onwards only. This information was not collected prior to this although figures up to March 2001 may include a small number of dependants of port principal asylum applicants removed.
⁽⁸⁶⁾ Includes persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration.
⁽⁸⁷⁾ Figures for 2001 and 2002 have been estimated. Deportation figures may be under-recorded in 1999 and 2000.

The substantial reduction in the number of persons deported after October 2000 is due to a change in the categories of person liable to deportation. Under section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, overstayers, persons who breach their conditions of stay, and persons who gain leave to remain by deception are administratively removed and deportation is now restricted to more serious cases.

Information on all those removed from the UK in 2003, including the number of deportations, will be published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin "Control of Immigration Statistics UK 2003" which is due to be published at the end of August, and will be available from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate web site at http://www. homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Detention Centres

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the   Home Department pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 30 April 2004, Official Report, columns 63–64WS, on Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre, if he will ensure that the results of the investigation recommended by Mr. Shaw into two further allegations of assault are made public. [173543]

 
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Mr. Browne: Stephen Shaw recommended that Global Solutions Ltd. (GSL) should investigate the allegations referred to and they will. GSL will report the    outcome to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate and, for the sake of completeness, Stephen Shaw will be asked to review the investigation. I can confirm that the outcome will be made public.

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints were made in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004 to date by those detained at Yarl's Wood about the escort service taking them to and from Yarl's Wood; how many are under investigation; and if he will make a statement. [173545]

Mr. Browne: The Monitor responsible for overseeing the contract which covers in-country escorting and holding rooms at ports received three complaints in 2003 and one so far in 2004 to date, from persons detained in Yarl's Wood. All complaints are subject to an investigation by the Monitor, none are currently under investigation.

In the same period, there were no complaints regarding the contractors responsible for escorting persons on scheduled flights overseas, from persons detained at Yarl's Wood.

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints about the activities of those escorting detainees to and from detention centres and detention and removal centres he has received; how many are being investigated; and if he will make a statement. [173547]

Mr. Browne: Since January 2003, there have been over 100,000 escorted movements. In this period there have been 78 complaints to the Monitor from detainees regarding the in-country escorting contract, which is responsible for movements of detainees from any location in the UK and supervision of detainees in the holding rooms at ports. All complaints are subject to investigation by the Monitor, at present 12 complaints are under investigation.

In the same period there have been 22 complaints against the overseas escorting contractor, which has responsibility for escorting people on scheduled flights to their removal destinations.

Dirty Bombs

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps he is taking to inform the general public of the precautions they must take to avoid contamination by a dirty bomb explosion; and if he will make a statement; [173710]

(2) what system is in place to alert the general public that a dirty bomb has exploded in an area in which they may become contaminated; and if he will make a statement. [173711]

Mr. Blunkett: In the event of an attack, unless people are under the direction of the emergency services, they should go indoors and tune into the TV or radio for further instructions. The media is the main system through which the Government and the emergency services will alert the public. The message is 'go in, stay in, tune in'.
 
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As part of a deliberate strategy over the last 18 months, I have made sure that we have increased the information available to the public on how to prepare for and respond to emergencies. The Government will continue to do this and we are regularly reviewing the best way to keep the public informed.

The main sources of advice for the general public and our partners are the Home Office, the MI5 and the UK Resilience websites, www.homeoffice.gov.uk/terrorism/, www.ukresilience.info/ and www.mi5.gov.uk/.

Drugs Misuse (Manchester)

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public funds were spent on tackling drugs misuse in Manchester, Central in (a) 1997–98 and (b) 2002–03. [174367]

Caroline Flint: Breakdown of financial allocation to local constituencies is not available in the form requested as funding is allocated to Drug Action Team (DAT) area (Manchester DAT).

The period 1997–98 pre-dates National Drug Strategy, during this time the local council and primary care trust allocated funding for tackling drug misuse. Accounting procedures mean that the 1997 figures are no longer available and that 1998 figures are not accessible by the DAT.

In 2002–03 the total drugs allocation was £5,678,000. In order to ensure consistency figures supplied are based on funding streams associated with the National Drug Strategy and are readily verifiable. These funding streams are specifically targeted at tackling the harm caused to individuals, families and communities by the misuse of drugs. Other mainstream funding is made available at a local level, this varies both in amount and origin; as a result it is not possible to provide robust financial information.
(£)

	2002–03
Partnership Capacity	77,000
Adult Pooled Treatment Budget	3,389,000
Pooled Treatment Budget (Young People element)	207,000
Young People's Substance Misuse Planning Grant	80,000
Communities against Drugs	710,000
Street Crime Initiative (Drugs funding)	1,215,000
Total	5,678,000

Early Retirement

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in his Department took early retirement, and at what total cost, in the last financial year. [171868]

Fiona Mactaggart: Details of normal early retirements and their costs for the last financial year are shown in table 1. The table also shows the full cost to the Department to age 60.

The Home Office also ran an additional scheme in 2003–04 using funds bid from Her Majesty's Treasury. The costs for that scheme and the staff numbers involved are contained in table 2.
 
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Table 1: Home Office early retirements 2003–04

	£
Number of staff	12
Cost for year 2003–04	116,956
Full cost to Department	621,965.98

Table 2: Home Office early retirements scheme2003–04

	£
Number of staff	67
Cost for year 2003–04	4,638,139.97
Full cost to Department	13,227,687.88

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