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28 Jun 2004 : Column 18W—continued
Departmental Communications
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff were employed in the Department to work in the communications field, and what the total expenditure on communications for the Department was, broken down by (a) Government Information and Communication Service staff and (b) other staff, broken down by (i) press officers, (ii) special advisors and (iii) others, in (A) 1994–95, (B) 1996–97, (C) 1997–98 and (D) 2001–02. [168675]
Fiona Mactaggart: The requested information on Government Information and Communication Service staff including Press Officers and other staff, and the total expenditure for those employed to work in the Communication and Research, Development and Statistics Directorates is as set out in the following tables:
| Communication Directorate (CD) | RDSD | CD and RDSD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial year | GICS (inc. press officers) | Press officers included in GICS total | Other | CD total | RDSD total | Total staff |
| 1994–95 | 24 | 15 | 8 | 32 | 7 | 39 |
| 1996–97(1) | 30 | 16 | 70 | 100 | 8 | 108 |
| 1997–98 | 23 | 13 | 65 | 88 | 9 | 97 |
| 2001–02 | 53 | (3)35 | 100 | (2)153 | 7 | 160 |
(1) Library and Internal Communications merged with the former Public Relations Branch to form the Communication Directorate.
(2) Direct Communications Unit, which includes the Customer Correspondence Service was formed during 2001–02.
(3) Expansion of the Home Office press office towards the end of 2000, followed an external consultant's review of its staffing and operation and recommended the creation of the Newsdesk so as to better meet the demands of the media. This improved efficiency from 'losing' in excess of 20 per cent. of the calls pre expansion, to a position where from June 2003 to June 2004, 91.8 per cent. of the 67,070 press calls received by the Newsdesk were answered. Added to which the Prison Service and Home Office press offices merged in May 2001
| Financial year | GICS (inc. press officers) | Press officers (included in GICS total) | Other | CT total | RDSD total | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–95 | 508,800 | 318,000 | 169,600 | 678,400 | 980,000 | 1,658,400 |
| 1996–97 | 859,014 | 369,000 | 1,343,220 | 2,202,234 | 755,000 | 2,957,234 |
| 1997–98 | 929,568 | 332,000 | 1,726,340 | 2,655,908 | 668,000 | 3,323,908 |
| 2001–02 | 3,028,899 | 1,000,000 | 3,555,665 | 6,584,564 | 553,000 | 7,137,564 |
Details of expenditure on communications staff beyond these two directorates is not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
With regard to special advisers, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 22 March 2004, Official Report, column 529W. Details of special advisers are published annually for the Government as a whole.
Departmental IT Equipment
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has received about (a) attempts to sell former Home Office servers on E-bay and (b) police investigations into these attempts. [179341]
Fiona Mactaggart:
The Home Office Information Technology Services supplier (Fujitsu) informed the
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Home Office on 6 May 2004 that equipment owned by them, but previously located on Home Office premises, had been stolen and subsequently assembled into two servers which were sold by an employee of the company. Police investigations were instituted. The equipment has been recovered. The incident continues to be the subject of police inquiries.
We do not believe that Home Office information has been compromised in any way but the equipment recovered is being tested to confirm this.
Empty Houses
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how many empty houses his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement. [179504]
Fiona Mactaggart [holding answer 18 June 2004]: As at 16 June 2004, the Prison Service had seven empty homes out of a total of 497. These are located in Worcestershire, Kent and London.
All homes, whether empty or occupied are under constant review. Generally homes which become vacant are not re-let, but sold on the open market. Consideration is being given to the reproduction and extension of a scheme under which eligible occupiers are able to buy their homes. However, due to recruitment and retention problems in London and the South East, accommodation in these areas is being retained and in some cases converted for multiple occupation. These properties are re-let on a short-term basis, which will not normally exceed multiples of six months.
Forcible Removals
Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been removed from the UK as a result of enforcement action in each year since 1979, broken down by nationality. [177094]
Mr. Browne [holding answer 8 June 2004]: Information on the number of people removed from the UK as a result of enforcement action in each year from 1979 to 2002 (the latest year for which figures are available) is shown in the table. Information on the nationalities of those removed is not available.
(4) Under sections 3(5), 3(6) and 33(1) of the Immigration Act 1971,or under section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
(5) Includes persons departing "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them.
(6) Excludes dependants of asylum seekers.
(7) Excludes people departing under the Assisted Voluntary Return programmes run by the international organisation for migration.
(8) Provisional figures.
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The number of people removed from the UK in 2003 as a result of enforcement action is due to be published in August in the Home Office statistical bulletin, "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2003", on the Home Office website: www.homeoffice. gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
Guantanamo Bay
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what dates representatives of his Department visited British nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay; whether he has received adverse reports on the welfare of detainees or allegations of ill-treatment; what representations he made on behalf of the prisoners; and what action he took to make his concerns known to relatives or legal representatives of those detained. [179814]
Mr. Blunkett: No officials from the Home Office have visited the British nationals detained in Guantanamo Bay. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 8 June 2004 in reply to his question no 177590.
Illegal Workers
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal workers have been reported through the Working in the UK website; and what action was taken as a result. [180115]
Mr. Browne:
The Working in the UK website advises a person who wishes to report an illegal worker to write to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) in Croydon with full details. Such letters are then logged and forwarded to the appropriate Immigration Service enforcement office where the information will be investigated. No distinction is made between letters prompted by the Working in the UK website and other allegations received in writing by the IND. As a large number of these communications are anonymous and contain only details of the illegal worker it is not possible to provide an accurate figure for how many came as a result of the website.
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Allegations are assessed by Immigration Service intelligence officers and considered for an operational enforcement response. Factors that are considered will be the reliability and currency of the information, the number of suspected offenders, available resources and local priorities. All allegations are considered on their individual merits.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether all employers will need biometric readers to establish whether a potential employee is attempting to work illegally. [177922]
Mr. Browne: The draft Identity Cards Bill imposes no regulations to require employers to undertake any specific checks on identity cards, or perform any checks over and above those imposed under section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996. The Government will not consider laying new orders under this Act to take account of the identity cards scheme until closer to the date of implementation of the scheme.
Identity cards would provide one document with which employers are familiar. Therefore the checks would be simpler and less time-consuming.
Employers will need to weigh up the costs, risks and benefits of changing current practices to incorporate the use of identity cards, according to their circumstances.
The Government will continue its discussions with employers' organisations and trade unions to ensure that employers' needs are taken into account during the design of the scheme.
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