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16 Nov 2004 : Column 1437W—continued
Overseas Corruption
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations of overseas corruption on the register held by the National Criminal Intelligence Service relate to offences that occurred prior to February 2002. [197960]
Caroline Flint: There were eight allegations of overseas corruption on the register held by the National Criminal Intelligence Service that related to offences that occurred prior to February 2002.
Overseas Corruption Offences
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many allegations there are on the register of allegations of overseas corruption offences. [194684]
Caroline Flint: The National Criminal Intelligence Service has 37 allegations
on the register of allegations of overseas corruption offences.
Mr. Mike Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the allegations on the register of allegations of overseas corruption offences have come from (a) Africa, (b) Central and
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South America, (c) North America, (d) Asia, (e) Western Europe, (f) Eastern Europe, (g) Russia and the former Soviet Republics and (h) the Middle East. [194686]
Caroline Flint: The information requested is as follows:
| (a) Africa | 14 |
| (b) Central and South America | 4 |
| (c) North America | 2 |
| (d) Asia | 3 |
| (e) Western Europe | 8 |
| (f) Eastern Europe | 1 |
| (g) Russia and the former Soviet Republics | 0 |
| (h) Middle East | 4 |
Passport Control
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the current time taken for British passport holders to pass through passport control at Heathrow Terminal One. [195534]
Mr. Browne: The UK Immigration Service is committed to clearing bona fide passengers with minimal delay while ensuring immigration controls remain robust. It has set standards for passenger processing times, which comply with international standards, although there is no specific measurement of the time take to clear British passport holders of Heathrow Terminal 1. These standards are embedded in the UK Immigration Service's annual business objectives, and are kept under regular review.
The UK Immigration Service's performance is also measured independently by the British Airports Authority, which includes queuing times. The Immigration Service including Terminal 1 continues to score well against this measure and performance is at a comparable level compared to 12 months ago.
Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are taken to ensure that British passport holders returning to the UK are dealt with (a) effectively and (b) efficiently at passport control points. [195537]
Mr. Browne: The passports of British nationals are subject to examination at ports of entry. While we are committed to fulfilling our obligations to process British nationals without delay, the security of our borders is a priority and it is imperative that effective controls are in place so that criminality and illegal migration are identified and appropriate action taken.
The majority of international travellers will understand the benefits of the examination of British passports. To reduce impact on queuing times we are negotiating with port operators to develop flexible queuing systems wherever possible. Ports managers
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have been advised to respond quickly by deploying additional staff if significant queues develop and to make themselves accessible to passengers to explain why such levels of examination are necessary.
Passports
John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are in place to ensure that, where it is known to the Passport Agency that passport applications and accompanying documents are lost or stolen, these are not used to make false applications or acquire false identities. [194732]
Mr. Browne: If the UK Passport Service (UKPS) becomes aware of the loss or theft of a passport application and supporting documents, the details of the passport application and documents submitted are recorded. For each application this record is checked as part of the systems the UKPS has in place to authenticate a passport applicant's identity. These arrangements should ensure that false applications are identified, and that passports are not issued in false identities.
Police
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police forces have case custody computer systems; and what steps are being taken to increase this number. [191288]
Caroline Flint: Custody and case preparation systems are designed to reduce bureaucracy and improve efficiency in police forces in the processing and handling of arrests. The case preparation system provides other criminal justice organisations with accurate, timely, data that meets the needs of victims, witnesses and other criminal justice organisations. Once implemented the system has the ability to deliver business benefit to both the police service and other criminal justice organisations.
Currently nine police forces are using the National Strategy for Police Information Systems (NSPIS) developed custody application and 11 are using the case preparation application. A number of other forces are using in-house legacy or off-the-shelf systems for one or both these functions.
The Police Information Technology Organisation plans to have at least 20 forces working operationally with NSPIS custody and a further 20 with NSPIS case preparation this financial year. Other forces should have custody and case applications in place by 31 March 2006.
Forces are being encouraged to take these applications by a number of means and we are working closely with the Association of Chief Police Officers to ensure that the police service has systems that will join up with the rest of the criminal justice system.
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to monitor the revised guidance issued by the (a) Press
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Complaints Commission and (b) Association of Chief Police Officers' guidelines on anonymity for individuals who are under investigation but have not been charged. [197437]
Paul Goggins: The Interdepartmental Ministerial Group on Sexual Offending will examine the impact of the revised guidance after May 2005, when the Sexual Offences Act 2003 will have been in operation for 12 months.
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on the use of arresting officers in progressing arrests to charge; and if he will make a statement. [196234]
Ms Blears: The processing of an arrest can result in a significant amount of administrative paperwork for the arresting officer, leading to their abstraction from front line duties.
We are determined to reduce unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy in the police service. There are a number of projects under way to assist and encourage forces to release police officers from tasks where their powers and training are not required, to increase the time spent on the frontline, and specifically on patrol by police officers.
As part of a range of work funded by the Workforce Modernisation Implementation Fund, Northumbria, Wiltshire and Lincolnshire police are actively piloting models utilising police staff investigators, case builders and other supporting roles. These pilots will support police officers as part of integrated criminal justice management process, following arrests being made.
The processing of an arrest, and the associated functions of criminal justice units within forces, including prisoner handling, case building and investigation, are areas which can be effectively undertaken by police staff and other members of the extended police family.
Polygamous Marriages
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to tackle the problem of unregistered polygamous marriages; and if he will make a statement. [195466]
Mr. Browne: Government policy is to prevent the formation of polygamous households in this country.
The Immigration Rules do not allow entry clearance to be granted to the wife of a man if:
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