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15 Mar 2005 : Column 197W—continued
Tuberculosis (UK Entrants)
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action is taken if an individual is tested on entry to the UK and found to have tuberculosis. [217744]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Cases of tuberculosis (TB), which are identified at the ports are currently followed up within the United Kingdom by the national health service. This is because refusal of entry and summary removal on grounds of public health would put the person concerned and other passengers at risk.
Under the new approach announced in our recent asylum and immigration strategy, we will apply TB checks overseas, rather than at the port of entry, thus ensuring that TB is treated before the person concerned travels to the UK.
Laptop Computers
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which suppliers service his Department's laptop computers; what the (a) length and (b) total value of each contract is; how many laptop computers are covered by each contract; what the annual or monthly charge per laptop for servicing them is; what the tariff for services not covered by the general servicing agreement is; which such additional services have been purchased; and in what quantities. [216314]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Sirius (Fujitsu Alcedo Ltd.) is responsible for providing the remote access laptops service for the Core Home Office. The length of the
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contract remaining is five years 359 days. The total value of the contract based on current usage is £3,368,617. The contract is based on variable demand with an upper limit of 9,999. We currently have 1,127 users.
The monthly charge per laptop for A4 size is £162.93 and for A5 size is £158.19. This includes the supply of laptop, network infrastructure, ongoing support including break fix and technology refresh of infrastructure and laptop.
Enhancements to the base remote access service are:
Standard docking service. This service enables the laptop to be plugged in and used as standard workstation in the office. The service charge is £22.73 per month per workstation for first 472 and £61.62 per month per workstation for more than 473. The current demand is 87.
Additional multi-user. This allows the sharing of one laptop with up to 10 users at a charge of £16.44 per month additional user with password access to a particular laptop. The current number of users sharing is 445.
Leave to Remain Applications
Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations he has received from the English language school industry in the UK on his proposals to increase the cost of Leave to Remain applications from international students; and if he will make a statement. [221387]
Mr. Browne:
Since 1 September 2004 I have received 12 letters from MPs on behalf of the English language school industry. The following organisations responded to the
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Home Office Consultation "Charges for Immigration Applications", which closed on 8 December 2004: English UK, Association of English Language Teaching Centres, British Council Accredited English Language Schools for Adults, the London School of English, and the Wimbledon School of English.
An assessment of the impact of the charges on the English language sector was published in a regulatory impact assessment on 7 February 2005 and is available on the Home Office website: www.ind.homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.
Metropolitan Police Authority
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings he has had with Sir Ian Blair to discuss proposed efficiency savings in the Metropolitan Police Authority. [215697]
Mr. Charles Clarke: It is the duty of police authorities to maintain an effective and efficient police force for their area. I meet the Commissioner and representatives of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) from time to time to discuss a range of matters including efficiency.
The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) has a good record of exceeding the annual target for 2 per cent. efficiency gains that has been in place since 1999–2000. Like all other police authorities in England and Wales, the MPA has been asked to make cumulative efficiency gains of 3 per cent. per year from 2005–06 to 2007–08.
I welcome the service review of the Metropolitan Police announced by the Commissioner supported by the MPA and led by an Assistant Commissioner to carry out and then to implement the review.
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Metropolitan Police Authority spent on counter-terrorism in each year since 1997, broken down by borough. [215698]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The information is not available in the form requested. Dedicated Counter Terrorism funding for the Metropolitan Police Service has increased from £47 million in 2002–03 to £61 million in 2004–05.
Ministerial Residence
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate has been made of the market value of his official residence. [209868]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The last valuation was carried out on 31 March 2001 when the property was valued at £1.8 million.
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to move into his official residence. [209871]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Prime Minister has agreed that the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) can continue to have use of the Home Office official residence while his and the current Home Secretary's security arrangements are reviewed. Appropriate measures will be put in place once this is completed.
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Motorway Accidents (HGVs)
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what percentage of accidents resulting in the closure of a motorway in England and Wales and in which a heavy goods vehicle was involved proceedings were subsequently brought against the owner or driver in each of the last five years for which figures are available, excluding ongoing cases. [219898]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 8 March 2005]: The information is not collected centrally by the Home Office. Motoring offence statistics do not identify the circumstances in which an offence takes place nor the nature of the vehicle involved.
People Smuggling
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many boats have patrolled UK shores to prevent people smuggling in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) the number and (b) type of boats; how many individuals were employed in this capacity in each year; and what the (i) total and (ii) average time spent on patrol was in each year. [221164]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The UK Immigration Service mounts joint operations with other agencies on an intelligence led basis, notably HM Customs and Excise.
HM Customs and Excise have advised that the deployment of their Cutters varies, but that they routinely patrol UK waters. Their Cutters are deployed in a proactive and reactive way, gathering intelligence and enforcing our sea borders.
Population Growth
Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding his Department has earmarked for growth areas to ensure that they have the resources required to meet the demands of a growing population. [218330]
Fiona Mactaggart: Several Home Office funding streams will benefit the locations that have been designated as growth areas, as they will other areas of the UK.
From April 2005, the main funding streams for crime reduction in communities will come under the Safer Stronger Communities Fund. This is a joint fund from the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and the Home Office, merging a number of current funding streams, including the Building Safer Communities Fund and the Antisocial Behaviour CDRP Allocation. In 2004–05, the authorities that cover the growth areas received £11,278,810 from the Building Safer Communities Fund. Funding for local areas in 2005–06 will be finalised shortly.
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The eight police authorities that cover the growth areas will receive a total of £2,824.3 million in general police grants in 2005–06. Formula grant, which takes into account the relative needs of authorities, consists of:
Grant increases for these authorities next year range from the minimum increase of 3.75 per cent. up to almost 6.1 per cent.
In addition, these authorities will also receive, in 2005–06, a total of around £295.5 million in specific grant funding for a range of schemes.
Allocation of these resources is a matter for each chief constable and police authority, who will make decisions according to local plans and operational priorities.
In February 2005 the Home Office announced that intensive family support will be introduced in 50 TOGETHER antisocial behaviour action areas through a £1.25 million cash boost. The £1.25 million will be split equally between the 50 action areas with each area getting £25,000. The growth areas which will be covered by the scheme are: Harlow, Peterborough, Southend on Sea, Northampton and Hackney.
Additionally, in 2005–06 some growth areas will receive funding from ASBU to tackle local issues. Commitments are already in place for the following areas:
In 2005–06, the growth areas named will receive at least £283,800 between them for antisocial behaviour action.
Tackling Drug Misuse is a priority of this Government and their policy is set out in the 10-year National Drug Strategy launched in 1998 and updated in December 2002. (A copy of the Updated Drug Strategy 2002 is held in the House Library.) Under this,
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the Government have invested substantially in measures to reduce the harms caused by illegal drugs, focusing on the four strands of:
Direct annual funding nationally to tackle drug misuse across all four strands—not only those delivered by the Home Office—amounted to £1,244 million in 2003–04, rising to £1,344 million in 2004–05.
The growth areas have seen a significant increase in direct funding for tackling drugs, in particular for drug treatment services and the throughcare and aftercare elements of the Drugs Intervention Programme. In 2003–04 the allocation for Drug Action Teams in the growth areas totalled £65.97 million, rising to £85.58 million in 2004–05. Allocations for Drug Action Teams for 2005–06 have not yet been agreed, but it is expected that figures will be finalised in early April.
Details of action taken to tackle drugs in the growth areas can be obtained from the Drugs Action Teams, for contact details see http://www.drugs.gov.uk/Links/DrugActionTeams.
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