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9 Mar 2005 : Column 1830W—continued
Immigrant Testing
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in the introduction of language and knowledge tests for immigrants. [216800]
Mr. Browne: Regulations on the level of English language required for naturalisation purposes were introduced on 28 July 2004. I hope to make a statement shortly on the introduction of the requirement that applicants should know something of life in the UK.
Irish Republic (Extraditions)
Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many extradition requests from the United Kingdom Government to the Government of the Irish Republic have resulted in the extradition of the person or persons concerned in the last 10 years for which records are available; what representations have been made to the Government of the Irish Republic in respect of non-executed requests; and if he will list those requests not yet executed. [212058]
Caroline Flint:
Prior to 1 January 2004, extradition between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland was carried out under a backing of warrants system. This was carried out on a police-to-police basis,
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under the close supervision and assistance of the Crown Prosecution Service with, in cases where the person was an accused rather than a convicted person, the involvement of the UK and Irish Law Officers. The Home Office had minimal involvement in the process and statistics were not kept centrally.
From 1 January 2004, the extradition process between the UK and Ireland has taken place under the Framework Decision on the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). So far, no one has been returned to the UK from Ireland under this process.
Her Majesty's Government will not list unexecuted requests, as for good and obvious reasons, we cannot confirm or deny the existence of any arrest warrant before an arrest is made. It follows therefore that information on representations, if any, also cannot be disclosed.
A similar question was answered on 28 June 2000, Official Report, columns 495–96W, and can be found as follows for ease of reference:
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons sought by the (a) RUC and (b) other UK police forces were extradited from the Irish Republic to the UK in (i) each of the previous three years and (ii) the current year. [125543]
Mr. Mandelson: The table provides details of the numbers of persons sought by the RUC and other UK police forces who have been extradited from the Irish Republic to the UK in the last three years and current year. The figures include both terrorist and non-terrorist cases. It should be noted that the figures for England and Wales are not necessarily complete, as the information is not collated centrally.
Given the complex nature of extradition proceedings, it is not possible to compare directly the number of extradition requests with the number of individuals extradited in any given year. With appeal proceedings the process may take a number of years to be completed.
| Applications made | Extradited | |
|---|---|---|
| Great Britain | ||
| 1997 | 22 | 10 |
| 1998 | 29 | 16 |
| 1999 | 17 | 11 |
| 2000 | 4 | 1 |
| Northern Ireland | ||
| 1997 | 8 | 3 |
| 1998 | 6 | 6 |
| 1999 | 6 | 3 |
| 2000 | 1 | 1 |
At the time the CPS manually reviewed their records to answer the question. The CPS no longer has the resources to review their records between June 2000 and December 2003.
Jamaican Prisoners
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department has had with the Government of Jamaica about repatriating Jamaican nationals serving prison sentences in the United Kingdom. [220472]
Paul Goggins:
The Government fully support the humanitarian principles underpinning prisoner transfer agreements and is keen to conclude such an agreement with Jamaica. However, in May 2004, the Jamaican
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Government reiterated its position that it did not wish to pursue prisoner transfers with the United Kingdom or any other country. The Government have had no further contact with the Jamaican authorities on this issue.
Migrant Workers
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of visas issued to migrant workers relate to (a) agricultural employment, (b) catering and (c) the care system. [219955]
Mr. Mullin: I have been asked to reply.
UKvisas does not keep a record of visas issued in the categories requested by the hon. Member.
For the financial year 2003–04, visas issued to work permits as a percentage of total applications received for entry clearance to the UK was 2.29 per cent., au pairs 0.19 per cent. and working holiday makers 2.67 per cent.
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Department keeps records of the companies who offer work to migrant workers. [219956]
Mr. Browne: The Home Office holds records of all employers who make work permit applications to employ workers from outside the European Economic Area. Records are also held of farmers and growers who employ people under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme. In addition, information is available about the employers who have recruited nationals from the new EU accession states from 1 May 2004 under the Worker Registration Scheme. Students from overseas and those entering the UK under the Working Holidaymaker Scheme may also take employment, subject to restrictions, but no records are held of the employers involved.
National Probation Service
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the budget change for the National Probation Service will be for 2005–06, broken down by area. [218437]
Paul Goggins: The percentage increases for the 42 local probation boards are shown in the following table. In addition, the Home Office has provided £13 million, equivalent to 2.3 per cent., to fund the increase in the cost of the Probation Estate in 2005–06. The Home Office has also set aside a reserve fund of up to £25 million, equivalent to 4.5 per cent., to fund the increase in local employer pension contribution rates following the tri-ennial actuarial review of pension funds.
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Newspapers/Periodicals
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the (a) newspapers and (b) periodicals taken by his Department in each year since 1997; and how much the Department spent on each in each year. [207650]
Fiona Mactaggart: The information contained in annex A, is the list of purchases for the year 2003–04 and is those purchases of Newspapers and periodicals made through the two central contracts with Jones-Yarrell & Swets. This does not include any purchases made locally or by non-departmental public bodies (NDPB's) as this data could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The following are the total costs for the specified years through the Jones-Yarrell & Swets UK contracts for the Home Office and agencies, these costs could be broken down only to the required level at disproportionate cost:
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| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98(14) | — |
| 1998–99 | 161,108 |
| 1999–2000 | 187,685 |
| 2000–01 | 151,865 |
| 2001–02 | 138,527 |
| 2002–03 | 132,632 |
| 2003–04 | 155,058 |
(14) The costs for 1997–1998 are unavailable.
This does not include expenditure by NDPB's or items purchased locally. This information is not held centrally and collection of this data could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.
The list of newspapers and periodicals purchased through Jones-Yarrell for this financial year is:
An accurate list for previous years could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.
The titles subscribed to by the Home Office and Agencies, using the Swets UK contract are available in the Library.
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