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Child Deaths

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children were killed by their (a) mother or father and (b) a member of the extended family in each of the last 20 years. [175470]

Ms Blears: The latest available information on homicide is published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin number 01/04, 'Crime in England and Wales 2002/2003: Supplementary Volume 1: Homicide and Gun Crime', a copy of which should be available from the House of Commons library or internet site http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/hosbpubs1.html.

In England and Wales, the numbers of homicide victims under 16 years killed by their parents or by others that they know are given in the table.

	Son/daughter of suspect	Other family/friend/acquaintance of suspect
1983	53	13
1984	62	7
1985	72	14
1986	35	9
1987	54	11
1988	76	12
1989	44	10
1990	49	8
1991	63	15
1992	51	8
1993	49	11
1994	53	11
1995	52	16
1996	58	12
1997	50	17
1997–98	44	15
1998–99	57	17
1999–200048		4
2000–01	80	7
2001–02	41	9
2002–03	55	11

Citizenship Ceremonies

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the largest number of new candidates present at a single citizenship ceremony has been. [175376]

Mr. Browne: Citizenship ceremonies are arranged by local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland. Information on the largest number of prospective citizens at those ceremonies so far held is not available. During consultation with local authorities, 10 to 50 applicants was suggested as the normal level of attendance at citizenship ceremonies.
 
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Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what knowledge of (a) life in the UK and (b) the English language is a pre requisite for receiving citizenship. [175377]

Mr. Browne: When brought into force, Part 1 of The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 will require naturalisation applicants to demonstrate that they have sufficient understanding of English, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic and of UK civic structures.

The language requirement already exists in the British Nationality Act 1981, although the standard is not defined. The Government have accepted the recommendations set out in the report of the "Life in the UK" Advisory Group that under new Regulations, "sufficient understanding" will entail applicants demonstrating progress from one English for Speakers of Other Languages entry level to the next.

Development of the citizenship element of programmes, and the means by which this can be assessed, is continuing in line with the further recommendations of the Advisory Group.

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what timetable he has set for the rolling out of citizenship ceremonies throughout the UK. [175378]

Mr. Browne: The requirement to attend citizenship ceremonies was introduced for applications made on or after 1 January 2004. The first ceremony was held in Brent on 26 February.

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have had an offer of citizenship revoked because of refusal to attend a citizenship ceremony. [175379]

Mr. Browne: To date no applicant has been refused citizenship as a result of refusal to attend a citizenship ceremony.

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many citizenship ceremonies have been held to date in (a) town halls, (b) registry offices and (c) other places; and in how many ceremonies, in each case (i) a gift was given, (ii) the local school participated, (iii) a local choir or band performed, (iv) a local hon. Member or other dignitary attended and (v) a national or local emblem was used. [175380]

Mr. Browne: Citizenship ceremonies are arranged by local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland, who are responsible for venues, composition, content, and attendance of guests and dignitaries. An analysis of ceremonies so far held is not available. Local authorities are encouraged to display national and local emblems at all ceremonies.

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many private citizenship ceremonies have been held for one candidate or one family. [175381]

Mr. Browne: There is no information available on the number of private ceremonies so far arranged.
 
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Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many citizenship ceremonies have been held to date; and how many (a) adults and (b) children have been awarded citizenship at these ceremonies, broken down by area. [175382]

Mr. Browne: The number of citizenship ceremonies held to date is not available, and information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The number of adults invited to attend a ceremony up to 30 April is 7,078. The number reported as having attended up to 15 April is 1,906. These figures cannot be broken down by area. Children are not required to attend ceremonies.

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have had an application for citizenship turned down because of insufficient knowledge of (a) the English language and (b) life in the United Kingdom. [175392]

Mr. Browne: In 2003, the latest year for which published figures are available, there were 20 applicants refused citizenship for insufficient knowledge of English. In 2003, the "Life in the UK" Advisory Group recommended a new definition of sufficient knowledge of English and an additional criterion of knowledge of life in the UK. The Government broadly welcomed these recommendations but they have not yet been introduced.

Domestic/Child Care Staff

Mr. Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps his Department is taking to (a) identify and (b) prosecute agencies offering staff for domestic and child care duties who are not in possession of the required visa for such work; [175354]

(2) if his Department will assess the merits of sting operations involving advertising requirements for domestic and child care staff as a means of identifying visitors to the UK breaching visa conditions; [175355]

(3) what steps his Department is taking to identify illegal workers in the (a) domestic services and (b) child care sectors. [175356]

Mr. Browne: The Immigration Service is increasing enforcement activity against illegal working in general, and we have taken steps to strengthen the law preventing employers from using illegal migrant workers, section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996. It is a criminal offence under section 8 to employ someone subject to immigration control who is not entitled to work in the United Kingdom or who is subject to immigration restrictions preventing them
 
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from undertaking the work in question. The law in this area applies to employers or agencies in all sectors of the economy, including those operating in the domestic services and child care sectors. On 1 May, an order under section 147 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 strengthened the security of the document checks employers must carry out on prospective employees in order to establish a defence under section 8. We have also tabled an amendment to the current Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc.) Bill to make the current section 8 offence triable either way, effectively removing the statutory limit on financial penalties the courts can impose in the more serious cases.

All Immigration Service illegal working enforcement activity is intelligence led, and if the hon. Member has any specific concerns or information about a particular company I would encourage him to pass these on to the Immigration Service for investigation. A number of enforcement operations in 2003 targeted the contract cleaning sector, but I am not aware of any recent cases involving the child care sector. It would not be appropriate for the Immigration Service to use advertisements to induce agencies to supply illegal, workers; to do so would undermine any subsequent criminal proceedings.

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