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22 Jul 2004 : Column 615W—continued

Visas (China)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government has changed its policy on assessing visa applications from Chinese students. [184880]


 
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Mr. Mullin: I have been asked to reply.

There has been no change in the policy on assessing applications from Chinese students although procedures for processing applications have been revised.

Our visa teams across China are working hard to ensure a proper balance between the facilitation of genuine student applications and effective immigration control. They have now developed better mechanisms to identify the increasing problem of visa and document abuse. Visa sections in China have also altered the procedures covering the assessment of student applications. This has streamlined the process and provided a more convenient service to the applicant, whilst reflecting increased concerns over the level of visa abuse, relating to the student market in China.

Water Consumption

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the non-office sites within his Department's estates that have been identified as being likely to provide opportunities for significant water savings. [182227]

Fiona Mactaggart: The Prison Service has benchmarked water consumption on their estate. This has identified some 71 sites that are consuming more than typical consumption benchmark. These are as follows


 
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Immigration Removal Centres, Contracted Out Prisons and Forensic Science Service Laboratories have not been benchmarked, but their sites listed as follows, may have a potential for significant water savings.

Immigration Removal Centres


 
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Privately Managed Prisons

Forensic Science Service Laboratories


 
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Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) his Department and (b) agencies of the Department have spent on water and sewerage services in each year since 1997; [182218]

(2) what changes there have been in water consumption by his Department between each year since 1997. [182226]

Fiona Mactaggart: The Prison Service has collected its water consumption and cost figures centrally for the period covered by the question. The non-prison estate has only been collecting water consumption figures for key office buildings since 1999–2000, when these figures were included in the annual "Sustainable Development in Government" annual reports (previously known as the Greening Government annual report). As these reports only required consumption per staff member figures, information on consumption prior to 2001–02 was not retained. The figures are set out in the table.
Prison
 Non-prison
Cost
(£000)		Consumption (m3)Consumption per prisoner (m3)Cost (£)Consumption (m3)Consumption per staff member (m3)
1997–9810,512n/an/an/an/an/a
1998–9911,1728,598,181138.7n/an/an/a
1999–200011,3128,313,496138.4n/an/a16
2000–019,4918,123,215138.0n/an/a15
2001–0210,0418,361,421135.8n/a143,09113.9
2002–0310,7618,147,572125.7176,000202,52012.7
2003–0411,1277,661,278114.4(74)—(74)—(74)—




n/a = not available
(74) Not yet known
Notes:
1. The non-prison figures relate to key office buildings in the core Home Office and UK Passport Agency.
2. The figures do not include any Home Office sponsored non-departmental public bodies.
3. The Prison Service figures for 2003–04 are provisional.




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