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6 Jun 2005 : Column 313W—continued
Supermarkets
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will establish an independent inspector within the Office of Fair Trading to regulate the relationship between supermarkets and suppliers; [1496]
(2) what steps he intends to take to ensure that the relationship between agricultural suppliers and supermarkets does not give undue power to the latter. [1497]
Mr. Sutcliffe:
Prime responsibility for operating the UK competition regime rests with the independent competition authorities. In the specific case of supermarkets it is the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which is currently responsible for keeping under review the code of practice governing supermarket's relations with their suppliers. It would be for the OFT to consider whether any action would be justified in respect of the grocery market.
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The OFT have been seeking views on competition issues in this sector, including the code of practice. They are considering the responses and will publish their findings in due course.
WEEE Directive
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the (a) complexities and (b) public accountability implications are that make the National Clearing House model for the implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive difficult to implement. [1346]
Malcolm Wicks:
The Government announced on 24 March a modified approach to the concept of a National Clearing House (NCH) for the initial phase of the UK's implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (the WEEE Directive). This modified approach builds on the very useful work done previously on the NCH concept by some producers. The Government have made clear that if, after the EU review of the Directive in 2008, producers want to implement a different NCH model, then it would be for them to take this forward.
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HOME DEPARTMENT
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's policy is on the use of antisocial behaviour orders against individuals taking part in political demonstrations. [731]
Hazel Blears: The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 sets out the conditions that must be met before an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) can be made. The Act stipulates that to make an ASBO courts must be satisfied that a person has acted in a manner that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as himself and that an order is necessary to protect the community from further antisocial behaviour. An ASBO can only be made by the court if these specific conditions have been met.
Individuals have the right to demonstrate their views provided they do so within the law and without causing intimidation and distress to others.
Asylum and Immigration
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which local authorities have provided housing for people who have been granted refugee status since 1 May 2004; and how many such people were housed by each local authority. [665]
Yvette Cooper: Information collected centrally by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister about general lettings of local authority housing stock does not distinguish specific groups or characteristics of households.
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government's policy is on issuing food vouchers to asylum seekers. [755]
Mr. McNulty: Asylum seekers are not issued with food vouchers. Unsuccessful asylum seekers provided with support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 may be provided with vouchers to enable them to obtain food if they are not housed in full board accommodation.
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to ensure that asylum claimants who are unrepresented at interviews are informed of their right to request that the interview is tape recorded. [1529]
Mr. McNulty:
We have put facilities in place since the date of the Court of Appeal judgment in the case of Dirshe to enable eligible claimants who request it to have their substantive asylum interview tape recorded. To minimise occasions where a request to have an interview tape recorded may not have reached us in time, we have put a procedure in place to ask the claimant on arrival in the Interview Booking Unit whether, if eligible, they would like their asylum interview to be tape recorded. From 26 May, all claimants will be advised of their rights regarding tape recording in the letter inviting them to interview. Once the guidance to interviewing officers has been finalised, this, together with a copy of the invitation to interview letter, will be published on the Immigration Nationality Directorate's website.
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John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances asylum seekers have been given permission to work since 2000; and whether those with medical or nursing skills have been favoured when applications by asylum seekers to work in the UK have been answered. [2150]
Mr. McNulty: Between 1 January 2000 and 2 April 2000 asylum seekers could seek permission to work if their application remained outstanding for longer than six months without a decision being made on it. During this period any asylum seeker, irrespective of the time taken to reach an initial negative decision on their claim, could seek permission to work if they were appealing against the decision to refuse them asylum. The employment concession for asylum seekers was amended with effect from 3 April 2000 to restrict permission to work to those asylum seekers whose application for asylum remained outstanding for longer than six months without a decision being made on it. Those appealing against a decision to refuse them asylum were no longer able to seek permission to work. The concession under which asylum seekers could seek permission to work was withdrawn on 23 July 2002 but it remained possible for asylum seekers to be given permission to take employment in exceptional circumstances. Since 6 February 2005, following the introduction of the EU Directive on Reception Standards for Asylum Seekers, asylum seekers may seek permission to work if their claim remains outstanding for longer than 12 months without a decision being made on it and providing the reason for the delay cannot be attributable to the asylum seeker. The skills or qualifications held by asylum seekers are not taken into account when deciding whether permission to work should be granted.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the date of application is of the earliest application for Indefinite Leave to Remain of a failed asylum seeker who was granted Exceptional Leave to Remain which is awaiting a decision by his Department. [55]
Mr. McNulty: The date of application of the earliest application for Indefinite Leave to Remain if a failed asylum seeker was granted Exceptional Leave to Remain and is awaiting a decision is 25 March 2003.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) immigration officers and (b) senior immigration officers (i) are in post and (ii) represent a full complement at (A) each terminal at Heathrow, (B) at each terminal at Gatwick, (C) Stansted and (D) Luton airport. [333]
Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the following table:
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A number of recruitment campaigns and associated training courses are taking place throughout the year to bring staff numbers up to target levels.
Senior immigration officer" has been taken to include chief immigration officer and immigration inspector.
These figures are based on locally collated management information, which may be subject to change and were correct at 30 April 2005. It is not possible to split the Gatwick figure between the two terminals.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has conducted on how many economic migrants will be required over each of the next five years to meet demand for workers in (a) the private and (b) the public sector; and what estimate he has made of the number of such migrants who will be required in each case. [1578]
Mr. McNulty: In a flexible and dynamic labour market such as that of the UK, it is impractical to make forecasts of this nature. As set out in the Home Office Five Year Strategy for Asylum and Immigration, the Government encourages migration for work through a flexible points based system that is employer-led and responsive to market needs, rather than a rigid and arbitrary quota.
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